Back to Dinoutopia
by legi0nn
Summary: Two stories; about two heroes that discover what it's like to have something to fight for, and how far they're willing to go. Through sickness, health, and the promises made; but sometimes, it's not always a happy ending.
1. Something's Up With Diego

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything belonging to the creators of "Ice Age" other than my OC which will make an appearance in later chapters.

**Note:** _After seeing the latest film of Ice Age, 'Dawn of the Dinosaurs', I was touched that Buck sacrificed his chance to become part of the herd and chose to stay with his fellow dinos. Diego's terrible fatigue hadn't all been explained properly; we didn't know if he was sick or was just losing his touch because of aging and I'd like to expand on that a bit more, especially since Diego is a favourite of mine ;)_

_Also, this is my first Ice Age story, and I might be very rusty at the characterization._

_Enjoy, and happy reading._**

* * *

Something's Up With Diego, Chapter One**

It wasn't that his spot near the extinguished campfire was uncomfortable, Diego couldn't sleep is all. He should be, since his ongoing fatigue kept kicking in frequently every time a hunt came; but he had a strange feeling of anxiety whenever he tried to get some rest. Unfortunately, dawn was at it's peak, and he hadn't gotten a chance at sleep. Instead, he had kept watch of any possible dangers.

Yawning, Diego got up and stretched. Shaking his head to try and rid of his tired hazel eyes. It wasn't until then that two cunning petite opossums who had already been awake long ago and had snuck off, would grant him his wish of permanent wake for the day.

The skittering of two feet faded near the smilodon tiger alerting the saber. Diego swiftly turned, to suddenly cry out when two opossums started shooting him with tiny pebbles from their straws. Every morning they would surprise him, and they'd never run out of ideas. He growled as the twins landed on their two feet giving a high-five to each other. Smirking, Diego playfully swiped at the two pranksters while they were distracted, earning a surprise yelp from both opossums before they retreated behind their awoken niece.

"Ah you two," Diego waved them off, "I was only joking with you."

"You could've killed us!" Crash cried defensively, "Like last time."

"That was on purpose," replied Diego, with a smirk, "Because you two wouldn't stop pestering me."

Peaches giggled, "What did they do, Uncle Diego?" She yawned.

"I'll tell you what he did," Eddie jumped in, "He ate us!"

An awkward silence. Diego rolled his eyes, "If I ate you, you wouldn't be here."

Crash waved a lone finger at him, "Uh uh uh! Eddie and I got out before you could swallow us because we had our straws."

"You mean twigs that break so easily?" Diego replied sarcastically, "Do you know how unrealistic that is? It's not even true."

"But it's adventurous!" Peaches giggled. The twins began cuddling her, petting her soft fur.

"Aw, that's right, Uncle Crash and Eddie are your heroes!" cooed Eddie. The trio snuggled together.

It wasn't before the whole herd was awake is when they rejoined with the other mammals alike. Manfred had been able to fix the damaged playground for Peaches, and he and Ellie stayed there, along with a few neighbor kids; while the others had gotten bored and decided to do something else. Sid had gone off to annoy some of his fellow mammals, while the twins followed along to watch the sloth humiliate himself, and Diego had went to hunt.

Ellie stood beside her husband, keeping watch of the kids as Manfred did the same; especially with Peaches. She sighed, and this caught Manny's attention. He looked at his wife worriedly.

"Hey, is something wrong Ellie?"

She looked at him, "It's just... have you noticed something about Diego?"

Manny was relieved, "He looks fine to me."

"No, he looks weak, and he always seems tired. Manny, I think you should talk to him." she said.

"What?!" exclaimed the mammoth, "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

"But that was different, Manny." Ellie replied with a hint of worry in her voice.

Manny debated, "I just don't want the same thing to happen again like last time. Diego's my friend, and I don't want him to go."

"Oh but Manny, what if he's suffering here?" the she-mammoth explained, "There's not enough food here for a tiger."

"But Ellie..."

"Sometimes you just have to let go, I'm sure he'll come back." Ellie smiled softly, and Manny followed with a nod and a smile of his own.

_Perfect_. A lone deer took another bite of the grass that had been growing around a boulder beside a tree, Diego was lucky to have spotted the very same deer that had out run him far too many times. It was time for payback; he promised himself he'd get the deer this time. Crouching, the smilodon tiger stalked his prey cunningly, carefully avoiding anything that would make a sound and scare his prey away. Once he was close enough, Diego waited, and then launched at the deer; kicking his hind legs off the ground and growling as he did so.

A twig broke off in the distance, and the startled deer ran. It was too late for Diego and he hit the hard rock with a cry of pain. Whoever it was that broke that twig, they were in for some big trouble. The saber flickered his eyes to rid of the blur in his vision. Instead, everything turned black.


	2. Ironic, Isn't It?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own 'Ice Age' other than my OC, which is being introduced in the next chapter.

**Note:** _Thank you for the reviews Varanus Prasinus, it's nice to have someone interested in my story, being it my first Ice Age fanfiction. Fiat Noctum, it's alright, English isn't my first language too._

_Enjoy, and happy reading.__

* * *

_**Ironic, Isn't It?, Chapter Two**

Manfred was left rearranging the playground after the children had left. It was afternoon, and the others should be getting back soon. After walking out, and closing the play place, he returned to his herd in their usual spot away from all the other animals. He found the twins entertaining Peaches and Ellie, and Sid examining the two logs he figured the sloth has found. Everyone was present except for Diego.

"Hey, hey, Manny." came Sid's excited call, the sloth held out the logs he had been playing with, "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Manfred was tired, he wasn't really interested.

"I found a way to create fire, watch this."

Sid set one of the logs on the ground on it's side, holding it before it could roll away, and with the flat surface of the other, he set it down on top. He then cupped the top log and started rubbing the log with both of his hands, letting the bottom surface rub the log under it. A spark, and then another before the log on the bottom was on fire.

"Yes! The Lord of Flames is back." Sid cheered.

"Wow," Manny said, not surprised. "It look you that long to figure out how to create a fire? Where were your parents when you were suppose to be learning your camping skills, Sid?"

"I don't know somewhere, I was better off without them anyway." Sid picked up the two logs and threw it into the extinguished campfire, which slowly ignited the other surrounding twigs and branches creating the campfire. He wiped his hands away and found a spot beside the mammoth.

"So uh, where's Diego?" he asked.

"No idea," Manny replied, "Probably still hunting."

"Yeah, I guess so." Sid stood, "Well I'm off to play with little Peachy."

He clasped his hands together, "She's just so cute, he looks just like her mother; thank god."

He earned a glare from the mammoth, and Sid chuckled nervously, "Not that it's a bad thing it didn't ended up looking like you."

He hurried off before Manny can harm him, if he was planning on it.

Manfred looked to the distance just in time to see Diego come into view of the winding road. The saber looked googly eyed before he shook his head and regained balance from his limping state. The mammoth also noticed the bump on the saber's head which caused him to raise a brow. He watched as Diego entered their campsite and sat down.

"So, where did you get that lovely bump on your head?" Manny asked.

Diego winced when he raised a paw and tried to touch his bump, "I hit a boulder when I was hunting. I-it's nothing, really."

He smiled, "How is everyone?"

"Good," Manny looked to Ellie, watching her pick a small branch of berries for Peaches and the others to eat, "How about you?"

"Fine, fine." Diego replied, resting his chin on his crossed paws and closing his eyes to rest.

"I mean, you don't feel... strange, do you?" Manny turned his eyes to look at the saber.

The smilodon tiger's eyes snapped back open, and he raised his head, "Why? Do I look strange to you?"

"No, it's just that..." Manny sighed, "Ellie things you look weak; _tired_ weak."

Diego lowered his head again, resting it on his paws, and sadly replied, "Y-yeah, she's right. I've been having this terrible fatigue I can't seem to get rid of. I'm sure it's nothing."

"If you need to hunt someplace else, we can always come with you."

"Really?"

"We're a herd, remember? We take care of each other." Manny replied.

Diego smiled, "Thanks, but no thanks. I think I can manage, Manfred. Hey, have you ever thought about whatever happened to Buck?" he said to avoid the other subject.

Manny raised a brow, "What, you mean, that insane weasel?"

"Well he's not really insane, he's more like... 'super weasel'."

"Hm, cute."

Diego chuckled, "Come on, big guy, I know you miss him too."

"Sure, whatever you say, pal." Manny said, "He saved us, I'll thank him for that."

"I wouldn't be surprised if we have to go and save him this time."

"You mean if the ground were to crack open, and we'd fall through and end up back in that horrible place? No, I don't think so."

A rumble. Manny and Diego got up. Another rumble, and the ground beneath them began to crack. Diego raised a brow.

"Huh, looks like your prediction came true, big guy."

"Ironic, isn't it?" replied Manfred. Everyone else was confused.

"What, are you guys talking about?" Ellie said, but her question was never answered for she suddenly fell through the ground along with Peaches and the opossums; who's screams faded away.

"Ellie!" Manfred cried out worriedly, he planned to run over to the hole, but the ground beneath him gave away as well and he fell through.

Sid screamed in horror, "Goodbye cruel world!"

Diego leaped away from a falling branch, "Not now Sid--SID!"

He saw the sloth's ground gave away, but didn't notice his own. Diego fell into a dark abyss, not knowing what was awaiting for him down below.

* * *

_Please do comment, it helps me continue the story. You may also give me ideas and I'll try to incorporate into the story._


	3. Scavenger Lois

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OC, who is introduced in this chapter.

**Note:** _Strange how listening to Dennis Leary cuss in his song "*sshole" help me concentrate on this story; probably because he voices Diego and it's amusing hearing the saber sing. However, I can tell you that Diego is NOT Dennis Leary, they are two different beings, with two different personalities._

_I agree with you _**haleygirl28**_, stories that revolves around Diego and makes you say 'aww' is just lovable, but I never knew my story was like that. It's strange, really._

**heynello**_, I'm glad I've got you interested._

**Varanus Prasinus**_, again, thank you for the review. Yes, and could it be possible foreshadowing? Maybe._

**DXmaryoOD**_, don't worry, here is chapter three._

**goldenpun**_, I'm still debating with possible reasons for Diego's fatigue, but I'm getting there, so no worries._

_I apologize if the characters are OOC, I know, they probably are, but I'm trying._

_Enjoy, and happy reading folks ;)_**

* * *

****Scavenger Lois, Chapter Three**

'_Hey, tiger_.'

He didn't know that voice. Who's was it?

'_Come on, wake up, kittycat_.'

It had a female's voice, and were there wings flapping?

Diego slowly opened his eyes, unable to move from his spot on the ice. _Ice_? He moved his green oculars to discover the ice cave he had fallen through. It looked familiar, similar to the time where he, Manny and Sid tried to retreat a baby, but different like the entrance to the dinosaur world he and the herd had once been in.

The flapping of wings caught his attention again, and Diego forced himself up on his feet, looking up to spot a flying fox bat. It was female with brown fur, her forehead was accessorized with a fresh leaf-hat, and cut-up leaf goggles with crystals in their sockets. Her leaf 'scarf' wrapped around her neck added to the aviator touch. She set a large leaf in between herself and the saber, and she landed in front of it, a lone ear twitching.

"Uhm..." Diego trailed off.

"Good, you're awake. Do you know how long I had to wait for you? By the way, I put medicine on your bump; it should be healing soon."

The saber was confused, "Who are you?"

"Oh," she chuckled, "I'm a scavenger, the name's Lois and I think I know who you're looking for."

Diego was still curious about the leaf between them, but he decided to learn more about the bat. If anything, she seemed to know a lot about him.

"You, help me?"

"Your name is Diego, isn't it?"

He raised a brow, confused, "How do you know?"

The flying creature pulled out a rock from behind her back and threw it in the air, letting it spin before she caught it again. She smiled maniacally, like the twin opossums on Sundays when they didn't get enough food in their system. Diego's ears went back as he gave the bat a strange look. He took a step back when she suddenly slammed the rock down in front of her cracking the ice.

"Because I know Buck."

Another hit, and the crack began to expand, going between the smilodon's legs and endlessly continuing on. Lois adjusted her goggles to eye level after she rid of the rock, and hovered over the tiger, starting to fly in a circle.

Not only was the bat he was conversing with strange, but insane as well. Diego's ground gave away and he nearly fell through if he hadn't leaped onto the leaf Lois had set on the ground. He looked over the hole to see the flow of lava surrounding the area below, and Diego glared up at Lois.

"What're you, crazy?! I could've fell through--" And he did.

Diego landed after the leaf onto a half tubular rock slide above the flowing lava, cutting him short on his screaming. Lois was too far in pursuit and she perched herself on his shoulder as they took twists and turns on the connecting rock slides.

"Isn't this fun?" She laughed, ducking under a tunnel with the saber.

Diego held on tightly to the surfing leaf, "If you were suicidal, maybe."

"Relax Diego, Buck and I do this all the time." She jumped over board and soared to the other side of the slide, "Just let go!"

He hesitated, but Diego complied and let go. The breeze passing over him felt relaxing, and he couldn't help but smile. Other than the lava that could fall when he's passing by, Diego felt great in his many years, better than the time he inhaled the laughing toxin. Thinking back to it, he felt embarrased.

"Hey," he called, "You said you and Buck did this?"

"Yeah," she perched herself on his shoulder again, her scarf rippling in the wind, "fun isn't it?"

"It feels great!" He laughed.

Lois smiled, "You can swim, right?"

Having just gotten over his fear of water a year ago, Diego nodded, "Why?"

"Good. I'll wait for you on the tree." She flapped her wings and flew ahead.

"Wait, what tree?" Diego squinted his eyes at the bright light that was coming up ahead. Using a lone paw he tried to cover his oculars from the light, but it grew bigger by the second, until finally he shot out of the tunnel he and Lois had gone through.

A flash of sunlight, and everything came into view. The beautiful colours surrounding the rain forest was... beautiful. His fall seemed forever, giving him a slight chance of sight seeing. Everything in the scenery was perfect to the last dew drop, and then before he hit water, Diego spotted the fox bat perch herself on a branch in one of the most beautiful tree he had ever seen.

He surfaced and his fatigue kicked in, blurring his vision. Diego shook his head and quickly swam to shore before he got anymore tired. Lois hadn't noticed, thank god. She smiled and waved over.

"Hey, you must be hungry." she said, "I can lead you to some food after I devour this apple."

"Oh, great..." Diego replied tiredly, "I'll just rest."

Lois stopped her eating, "You know, I haven't seen sabers like you travel in a herd of herbivores. Don't you feel lonely?"

"Nah, my herd's special."

She nodded, "I'll be back, don't go anywhere."

Like he could. After a while, Lois came back with a large portion of meat she's having trouble carrying and after gently letting it drop to the ground where the tiger was, she flopped on the ground stomach first panting.

"You looked tired so I just got you some food."

Diego chuckled, "Thanks, but you really didn't have to do that."

"Oh, that's just me." she waved him off, "I like helping others."_

* * *

Yey for Lois! I hope you enjoyed her, and she's voiced by **Anne Hathaway** if any of you were wondering how she sounds like._

Please comment, thank you!


	4. Pineapples

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OC Lois, voiced by Anne Hathaway.

**Note:** _For those of you who don't know Anne Hathaway, her picture and the picture I drew of Lois is available in my profile._

**Safe runner**_, thank you for the shout out, I've noticed I misspelled a couple of things._

**Fiat Noctum**_, don't worry about Lois she and Diego will not get together, being two different beings, and I have other plans for them. She's bascially just Buck's rookie, like a daughter to him, and a guide to Diego so he'd be able to reunite with his herd._

_I agree that Diego should stay a bachelor, it's just strange seeing him with another saber._

_Buckminster, he's a hard character to portray, but we all love 'im._

_Soon enough, _**haleygirl28**_, soon enough you shall find out about Diego's fatigue._**

* * *

****Pineapples, Chapter Four**

The family of mammoths walked onto the trail of which was once said by a certain weasel to be the safest place on the entire dinosaur kingdom, clear and away from any carnivores. The opossum twins were there, sitting on each of Ellie's trunks awaiting the discovery of where their other commrades might be. Worried that they might instead run into unwelcoming native species of the utopia.

"You two should be more careful," lectured Manny from the twin's recent accident of nearing falling into a river of lava, "You know you can't fool around in a place like this."

"We weren't trying to." one replied sadly, "Eddie and I were just excited to see Buck again."

"Well we didn't see him, and you two nearly died. Be more careful--OW!"

The twins giggled to themselves when the mammoth stubbed his toe on a rock on the path. Ellie noticed this and bit her bottom lip. So much irony has been happening lately that the irony itself is nearly coincidental. She worried that Sid and Diego had gotten off to a bad start, but she had to think positive unless the irony turns into reality again. They continued down the path.

On the other hand, no one had noticed the presence of a familiar weasel swinging from vine to vine until one snapped and it sent him flying past the group and into a bundle of bushes. The twins gasped in surprised with grins on their faces and hopped off of Ellie's trunks to aid their old friend, while the trio of mammoths stared in awe.

Before the twins could reach the cluster of plants, leaped out Buck, his dagger held tightly in one hand. Everyone froze as the wide eyed weasel's lone ocular examined it's surroundings. Straightening up, Buck gave the crew one of his friendly smiles.

"Good to have ya' back, mates."

The twins beamed with joy, "Dude, we missed you!" cried Eddie.

"Manny didn't, but we sure did!" sniffed Crash. They earned a glare from Manfred, "Hey!"

"Touching," Buck dramatically wiped a stray tear away from his face, "But how did you get here, I thought I sealed the entrance?"

"Apparently, there's other ways in here. The herd and I fell through the ground during an earthquake." replied Manny.

Peaches finally spoke, "And now Uncle Sid and Diego are missing."

Ellie gently gave a small pat to her daughter's head, "We know baby, but we'll find them."

"Right you are, lass!" Buck was quicker before you could say, 'Diego's got the flees!' and was already halfway down the trail. He had his dagger held over his shoulder, and he spoke in his usual English accent, "Of course we can start looking for the sloth and the tiger tomorrow. Instead, we should find somewhere to camp for the night."

The opossums was already in pursuit, giving each other high-fives and sharing jokes with each other. Peaches followed behind them with a giggle, and Ellie, then Manny.

* * *

Just as the horizon was fading into night, the group found a place where they can camp, and with the finding of sticks and branches they were able to create a campfire. Everyone surrounded it, and Buck took his usual spot on a boulder for story time. The weasel was in the point of beginning his story when a familiar pterosaur (the one that Buck had used to fly as an airplane) perched itself on top of Manny's back, startling the mammoth.

"Get off me!" Manny cried, waving his trunk over his head to rid of the dinosaur. Said pterosaur obeyed and landed on the boulder beside Buck.

"Alright Pett, what is it you want?" Buck muttered, and got a response of dinosaur gibberish.

The herd could not understand it, but the Buckminster seemed to. He explained to the pterosaur what he was currently up to, and soothed the flying creature when it got emotional. Until finally, it gave a cheerful chirp to the weasel, and settled down to listen to his story.

"Whoa, you speak dinosaur?!" beamed Eddie.

"No, not really." Buck replied, "Dinosaurs has these clicks of when they're about to do something, Pett isn't actually mentally stable - he thinks I'm his mum."

The twins looked at the oblivious pterosaur strangely.

"Can we please move onto another topic?" Manny asked.

"Yes, anyway, about the pineapple I was going to talk about..."

Manny raised a brow, "Didn't you already tell us you woke up one day married to a pineapple?"

"Yes, I remember, and no, this is different. This one includes me," the weasel gestured to himself, "waking up one morning thinking I _had_ a _baby_ pineapple. You see the difference?"

At least the Buckminster was still the strange weasel he was. Ellie was interested, "And then what happened?"

"Well, I went out to hunt, and when I came back she was gone." Buck shrugged, "Strange really."

Strange it was. With a couple more stories, from Buck's heroic adventures, it was the usual night of sleep but no sleep at all for Buck. He kept watch beside his sleeping pterosaur, carving a petite pineapple from a good portion of clay he had found beside the river they were camping by. However, like all fearless heroes, there was always their rival. For Buckminster, it wasn't just Rudy, but many more. He was well known in the dinosaur kingdom, being the hero that he was, and while he tried to make others happy by helping them, there were some who wanted to rid of him as well.

Typical, for your average weasel hero. Even more, when you've got a pineapple for a wife.

* * *

_Tell me what you think! I must say, Buck reminds me of the Crocodile Hunter... a lot._


	5. A Stage Occupied By An Old Raptor

**Disclaimer:**I don't own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OC Lois, voiced by Anne Hathaway

**Note:** _I'm nearly experiencing plot bunnies, _**Fiat Noctum**_, but thanks for the compliment. I'm however, not sure if I've characterized Buck well, hmm._

_Aw, thanks for the review _**haleygirl28**_, and yes, poor Buck... but he's just so huggable._

_Lol, I'm happy to know that I've characterized him well, thank you _**metacognitive**_._

_No need to worry _**P.A.W.07**_, we're getting to the part Diego's problem is discovered, hopefully._

* * *

** A Stage Occupied By An Old Raptor, Chapter Five**

Since he hadn't gotten the chance to meet a certain diesel weasel, Sid had no idea about the rules of the dinosaur kingdom. He had been walking in the open area of the rain forest since dawn, and was getting more lost (as he thought) by the minute.

"This isn't so bad," he tried to rid of the fear rising within him, "Sid on a vacation, that's what it is."

Being the oblivious animal that he is, Sid didn't hear the fading footsteps of a rather large creature coming towards him until it was too late. A shadow loomed over the sloth, and hot breath greeted Sid. He instantly froze at the touch, and slowly, he turned.

What he saw before him overwhelmed him with happiness, it was mommy dinosaur, and popped out three raptor-sized tyrannosaurus from one hind leg of Momma, who greeted him with licks and snuggles.

"Oh oh, kids!" Sid huggled them, "I missed you. Boy, you dinosaurs sure grow fast."

They nodded in union, before they followed along Momma when she gestured for them to come. Sid wasn't forgotten, the one called Rodney threw him in the air, and the sloth landed on the child's back. Rodney chirped before hurrying along to follow his mommy.

"So, where are we going?" he patted his young's head who purred in response.

It wasn't long until they finally stopped at a cliff overlooking a waterfall and the deep waters below it. Sid stared in awe until he dropped to the ground. His head snapped to his children devouring a large portion of another dinosaur's meat, he figured it had been hand-picked by Momma tyrannosaurus. Apples from a tree dropped before him and Sid looked up at Momma.

"Your heart, is as big as you are, Momma." Sid clasped his claws together, admiring the T-rex.

Momma just shrugged and climbed onto a nearby cave, where she sat and kept watch.

* * *

"You really have to be into whatever Buck's doing if you're to survive..." Lois nodded, taking a bite of her apple, "Mmm, isn't this apple good? Err... anyway, yeah, as I was saying--"

Diego's ears fell back as he looked up at the bat, "Lois, do I look pale to you?"

An apple core fell beside him, and Lois flew down from her spot on the branch to stand in front of him. She tilted her head, rubbing her chin as she examined his face. She shook her head, "No, why?"

"Nothing."

"No come on, tell me." she said, clapping her hands, "If you're sick I'll take care of you."

Diego shook his head, "No really, it's nothing."

The bat had other plans, "First, I'll make sure to pamper you, then I'll put bows on you and we can play babysitter! Aww, I think you'll make a great baby tiger."

The smilodon's ears fell back yet again, and he chuckled nervously, taking steps as far away from the bat as possible, but to let her notice that he's trying to keep his distance from her, "Thanks, but no thanks."

Lois pouted, flying over to the tiger and perching herself on his back as he started to walk, "Fine, fine. Don't come running to me if you catch a cold."

It was worse than a cold. Diego kept walking along the path with Lois looking through his fur for any flees. She had to admit, that Diego was one clean tiger; almost. He had a good hygiene, kept his fangs and claws sharp, but sadly, had very dull tusks. Also, there was one more flaw. He looked tired, rather sleepy. She shrugged, and figured he hadn't been getting enough sleep lately. She's certain that with a good amount of sleep, he'll be refreshed and ready.

Suddenly, faint music was heard in the distance, causing Diego to stop and listen in.

"Is that music?" he asked, and Lois nodded.

"I think we should check it out."

Diego started heading in another direction, "It's probably just a bunch of dinosaurs celebrating."

Lois pouted, "Fine, you can stay here, while I check it out."

She flapped her wings, and was gone in a moment, into a bundle of gargantuan leaves that lead to the direction of the music. Diego, having no choice, followed after the fox bat. He couldn't lose his guide now, especially since they were in the darker part of the rain forest. The music grew louder each step he took, until he reached the curtains of leaves and the volume was at it's maximum. There were silhouette of shadows on the other side, created by an unknown light source, along with chattering from animals. He was about to push open the entrance when Lois startled him from the behind.

"Diego I found food!" she beamed.

"You just ate and you're hungry again?"

Lois rolled her eyes as she hovered above the tiger, "I didn't say it was for _me_. Come on!"

She flew away again. Diego hesitated, taking one last glance at the certain of leaves before following after fox bat.

The two entered through another curtain of leaves, however there was little light; made by fireflies that rested on the many rain forest plants. The area looked similar to a stage, and in the corner at the end, with rocks as borders was the food Lois had found. Fresh food, for it was a stack of dead dinosaurs meat, and another was for fruits.

"What do you think you're doin' ya' two?!" an Irish accented someone said. Diego and Lois turned to a raptor, who was rather old, carrying a torch and a cane made of a branch.

"My friend's hungry," Lois motioned to Diego, "and he needs some food."

"So the food isn't free?" Diego looked to Lois, who gave him a shrug before turning back to the raptor.

"Well, if you want yer' food... you're going to have to perform some sort of act."

Lois squealed, clapping her hands together, "That's perfect Diego! You can perform an act."

The tiger's ears went down, "What? But I can't act."

* * *

_Will Diego perform to get his food? Tell me what you think!_


	6. Weeooh, wimoweh

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OC Lois, who is voiced by Anne Hathaway. The drawing I drew of Lois can be found on my profile if you're all wondering what her appearance may be.

**Note:** _Thanks for the review _**Jessangel249**_, knowing that many OCs aren't really appreciated at times... I was a little worried that Lois might be one of those OCs. If she is, I have nothing against whoever thinks it, because we all have our own opinions._**

* * *

****Weeooh, wimoweh, Chapter Six**

The old raptor sighed, his scales were brown, with patches of green, and he had enough of children for the day, as they have bothered him about getting food and complaining about the audience whenever they would throw fruits at the untalented brats. Rascal (that was the old raptor's name) didn't need anymore trouble.

He glanced at the two, and an idea popped into his head as he glanced at Lois. A mischievous grin spread across his face, that only the flying fox bat would know the meaning of. Lois shook her head.

"No, nuh uh, Rascal."

Rascal set the torch down on a nearby branch that was shaped to be a holder for the object, and he turned back to the two with his grin again.

"You must sing, or no food for the lad, lass."

Diego was amazed at this small information, he turned to Lois, "Wait, you can sing?"

Lois shook her head, "I'm not singing today." she turned back to the raptor, "I'm not singing any other day. If you want someone to sing, ask Buck!"

The raptor gave a small shriek of fear, holding his cane close to him and slumping his shoulders, "_Anything_ but that insane weasel."

It was Lois' turn to grin, "Then you'll be happy to offer my friend some food."

The two was taken aback when the raptor started waving his branch cane at them, sending Lois flying into the direction of the stage curtain along with Diego, who dodged a few swings here and there. They were pushed out of the curtains and in front of the many dinosaur audience by the elder, and with a glare from Rascal they glared back.

"Not a chance!" the dinosaur hissed, "Perform, or no food at all, and option number two would be is to be served as food."

Lois gulped, but Diego kept glaring. He's had experience with elders before, and he found them strange. Especially saber elders, with their complaining and how the world should end sooner. It drove him crazy, and thinking that one day, he would be some deranged smilodon tiger like his grandpa. Thank god he was still young, but Diego figured that the elders were only loopy from starvation.

"Of course, you wouldn't want that now, would you?" the raptor disappeared back stage.

Rascal didn't need an answer, he knew it already. He walked over to a nearby branch and pulled, a grin creeping into his face again.

The massive area was occupied by all types of dinosaurs, small to large, carnivore to herbivore, maybe even both of the food lifestyles. Even a few insects were here and there.

The trees that surrounded the land created a roof of which made the place look like night. The torches that surrounded the interior added to the night effect, and a bar made of branches and leaves was at the far corner, near the where the entrance should be; somewhere where dinosaurs can relax and hang out with their comrades. A pathway started from the entrance, and lead to the stage on which were Diego and Lois were on. The surface was a massive flat rock, supported by large logs and at each side were two massive trees where the curtains of leaves hung.

Everyone had turned their eyes to the couple, and the spotlight appeared before the tiger and the flying fox bat when a small portion of the roof was opened. Lois had figured it had been Rascal's doing. She huffed.

_Strange_. Diego had never performed in front of gazillions of adoring mammals, especially dinosaurs, and he didn't plan on it. Turning to Lois he whispered, "Lois, I'm not cut-out for this."

Lois pouted, "You think I am? Go make yourself useful and play those drums."

She gestured for him to go to the handmade bongo drums at the corner of the stage.

_Great_. She was actually making him do something foolish. He was tired, and hungry, and he sighed heavily as he gave in and settled himself in front of the bongo drums (made of bones and dinosaur flesh). Giving the instrument a strange look he knocked on them, cueing the first note. He looked up at Lois who seemed to have been having some difficulty of her own.

Turning back to the drums, Diego cracked his knuckles and smirked, "Let's get this party started, _pal_." he said, talking to the object as if it were real. Diego, making sure that his claws were retracted, tapped the drums a few times, earning a response from Lois with a perk of one ear that had been drawn back by fear.

She gave him a sheepish smile, and he gladly returned it with an encouraging one. She turned back to the crowd.

"Hey, you guys!" she called upon a group of the same dinosaurs, "Could you please clap in this pattern?"

She began clapping, the sound jungle-like. After the group of dinosaurs have mastered it, Lois smiled and moved onto another group, "Snap your fingers!" the cluster of dinosaurs obeyed.

Lois kept moving from one group of dinosaurs to the next, giving them each a role to play on her and Diego's musical performance before she raised her wings in the air and brought them down. That was the cue of silence, and everyone fell to no volume of noise.

A squawk from a nearby pterosaur, and Lois tapped a lone foot. One, two, three, she was tap dancing across the stage and when she abruptly stopped to catch breath, she shrugged at the stunned dinosaurs and Diego.

"Sorry." she raised her wings, and the whole crowd sang in union, playing each of their roles.

While the deinonychus dinosaurs continuously sang,

_'Wee-ooh wim-o-weh. Wee-ooh wim-o-weh.  
Wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh  
o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-weh.  
Wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh  
o-wim-o-weh o-wim-o-weh o-wim-weh.'_

Lois sang the verse,

_'In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.  
In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.'_

Booming with the drums, Diego smiled in union with the audience and Lois. He noticed that Rascal had stepped out from backstage from the corner of his hazel eye. He turned to the elder raptor and smirked, "You have to admit, we're good."

Said raptor nodded, smiling and he soon disappeared back stage again. Flames burst into life from behind the curtains, another effect to add to such an entertaining performance.

'_In the village, the peaceful village, the lion sleeps tonight.  
In the village, the quiet village, the lion sleeps tonight_.'

Soon there were insects chirpping, pterosaurs making clicking sounds and squawks, apatosaurus' humming, and maracas made of bones being played by raptors blended into the musical celebration. A few dinosaurs were dancing here and there, and others were enjoying a nice cup of river water, toasting each other for being a part of something so great and big.

'_Hush, my darling, don't cry, my darling, the lion sleeps tonight.  
Hush, my darling, don't cry, my darling, the lion sleeps tonight_.'

A vine slithered unnoticed onto Diego's side of the stage. It was quick, and the smilodon tiger never saw it coming as it jabbed it's tip onto his leg. He yelped and pounced towards the audience. Oblivious to the fact that the tiger had just gotten stung by a root of a plant, they caught him and sang, raising him up in the air, and passing him to each dinosaur in the crowd. Lois was already beside him, swaying her wings back and forth to the music's beat.

"Diego, that was amazing!"

The tiger's ears perked up, "I never even knew I could do something like that!"

"Well you did, and I'm your first number one fan. Now come on, wave your arms, kittycat!"

'_Whuh whuh whuh wim-o-weh. Wee-ooh wim-o-weh wee-ooh  
wim-o-weh wee-ooh wim-o-weh.'_

_'Whoa ohhh, whoa ohhh, whoaOH! I'm on my way...'_

Fireflies exited through the stage, flying around the crowd and the two ice age mammals. As they were gently set on the ground, Diego leaped up with a 'Woo!' and joined the crowd at their dance. Standing on his hind legs, moving back and forth, spinning and clapping his hands. He smiled at Lois when she flew by in circles, followed by a cluster of fireflies.

The vine that had stung the smilodon tiger slithered slowly out from the stage, uncoiling itself from a nearby tree, and back into the rain forest... satisfied, to have gotten a victim.

* * *

_Please review, thank you! For those of you waiting to find out what Diego's horrible fatigue is... we're getting there. So sit tight, and get yourself ready for future chapters._


	7. Found You

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OC Lois, voiced by Anne Hathaway. The picture I drew of her is available in my profile.

**Note:** _Thank you for the reviews _**haleygirl28**_, I appreciate it ;)_

_Also, I've discovered the name's of Sid's kids. Slap me for I have forgotten since I last watched the film. Anyway, their names are Egbert, Shelly and Yoko._

_~Enjoy, and happy reading._**

* * *

Found You, Chapter Seven**

It had been a while since Momma, Sid, and their kids set off to travel around the rain forest. As a family passing by, the other animals feared the tyrannosaurus' and hid in their little burrows, bushes and trees, but once they caught side of the sloth; confusion struck them. Aren't sloths meat in the inside? Don't tyrannousaurus' eat _meat_? Unless of course, the sloth was an appetizer of some sort, and the family will eat him later. Sounds about right.

But oh, were they so very wrong.

Now in the darkest part of the rain forest, called 'The Jungle of Misery', it wasn't all bad as long as you stayed on the path but you were with Momma and there's no need for paths. The plants and snakes were afraid of you, most likely. That is, if you were a dinosaur. But Sid wasn't afraid, he cooed his children and patted their little heads for being such good dinos.

"Now now, Egbert, don't be biting your sister." the sloth lectured when the two started wrestling, "Say you're sorry."

The two lowered their heads in shame, and obeyed, apologizing with the slapping of their tails together.

Just then, in the distance, Momma spotted a familiar tiger walking down the path with another familiar face. But she couldn't quite point out who. She lowered her head and nudged Sid with her nose. He immediately looked up at her, "Yes, darling?"

She gave him a weird look, but looked up again to the two mammals. Sid followed her eyes and saw Diego, with... a mouse with wings? He didn't know. Smiling, the sloth called after his friend.

"Diego!"

The tiger's ears perked up, and turned to their direction, to put on an astonished face.

"Sid?"

Lois looked at Diego, "Sid, who?" she followed her eyes to see the sloth and a family of dinosaurs.

"Okay, is it just me or does that group look like it has a flaw?"

"No, that's his family." Diego replied, before proceeding towards the tyrannosaurus' and Sid.

"... Family?" Lois was confused. She looked up and flew up to avoid being tackled by the happy ground sloth.

"Oh Diego, you don't know how glad I am to see you!" beamed Sid, with a big smile on his face. Diego slipped from under him and smiled towards Sid and his family, "So uh, aren't you suppose to be with Manny?"

"That's the thing," Sid replied, "We can't find Manny and the others."

Lois waved them off, "Don't worry, Buck's got them."

"You never told me Buck has them." Diego stated, and Lois nodded.

"I just remembered," she shrugged, "Sorry."

"At least we know they're safe, Diego." Sid again smiled, and walked back to his family, snuggling up to his kids, "We can look for them together."

Lois shrugged, and flew over to Momma, where she landed on the dinosaur's head. Momma raised a brow and gently shook her off. The bat pouted, "Momma, don't you remember me? It's me, Lois! Buck's assistant, I helped you get your tail out of those rocks."

The tyrannosaurus thought for a moment, then as she remembered, she smiled at Lois and nodded. The flying box bat squealed and settled herself on the dinosaur's head. Diego got on Momma's back with the help of the kids and Sid. The sloth had said to the tiger to rest, and Diego agreed. He had been feeling a bit nauseous, since he and Lois had left the party. He didn't want to admit it, but he could collapse at any second, and so, Diego was to rest while Sid and his family, along with Lois try to find the others.

* * *

_Sorry for the short chapter, but I've been having experiencing writer's block. If you have any ideas, I'll try to incorporate it into the story, thank you!_


	8. Mummy Rudy

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OCs, Lois, Pett (err... he's not really an OC, I just gave him a name), Rascal, and being introduced in this chapter; Doktor.

**Note:** _Yes, _**metacognitive**_, much to Momma! For a dino, she sure is pretty ;) and yes, writer's block... I hate it._

**pachysam**_, thank you for the ideas. I shall try to incorporate them into the story, although I will say that I'll find it difficult to put Roshan in the story, since he's a human, and humans can't understand animals._

_I know _**Fiat Noctum**_, I'm so sorry. I'm always bumping up the explanation to Diego's fatigue. I'm debating over myself, yes, I am. But I will put the reason for his fatigue soon._

* * *

**Mummy Rudy, Chapter Eight**

Hurrying down along the grassy lands of the rain forest, Buck searched for any sign of danger, narrowing his eyes as he looked to the distance, under rocks and before he walked through any bushes. He knew that he was breaking one of his own rules, but Pett needed his daily check up, and the weasel thought that it'd be best to stay with the doctor for the night. They weren't in the best part of the jungle right now. Checking one last time for any predators, he turned to the herd and gestured for them to come quickly.

"Come on, the coast is clear!"

They got to the weasel within seconds - always listen to Buck (when he says 'hurry up' you _better_ hurry up).

Buck lead them through a forest of great ginormous leaves with his knife pointing wildly at all directions. Doktor's house 'gnomes' weren't the friendly type, and they weren't really _gnomes,_ but venus flytraps.

Buck hopped on all fours towards a very large dinosaur fossil; half buried to the ground, and covered with leaves to hide the interior, his dagger held in his mouth. Stopping beside the skull that created the entrance of the shed, he stood up and swivelled to the group. With his dagger held over one shoulder, the weasel knocked at the skull. Pett chirped and landed in front of the passage, with Buck picking on his teeth as they waited.

"Who's there?!" demanded a raspy voice that seems to be echoing from within the fossil.

Buck stopped his teeth picking and replied, "It's me, Buck, here for Pett's daily check-up."

"Ah yes, yes, come in."

The skull puffed out smoke from it's holes, and slowly, it began to open. The herd stared in awe while stopping behind the weasel and it's pet. Inhaling the jungle scent, Buck marched towards the darkened entrance, the only light from the end of the fossil tunnel where it turns. Pett flapped his wings and flew it ahead of everybody else. There was voice from within the fossil cave that grumbled as the pterosaur reached it's destination.

"Pfft," Buck shook his head, and turned to herd as he kept marching, "A word of advice; friends who has wings, must not fly in Doktor's home."

Manny raised a brow, "Why?"

The weasel shrugged, "He hates it when his materials get broken."

"Materials?" asked Ellie, "What does he have in there?"

"Oh, I bet it's a collection of magic wands!" Eddie implied. Crash gave his brother a bop to the head, "No silly, it's a collection of pet fishes."

The herd looked to the lone opossum who had made the comment with an awkward stare, and silence. Buck asked what everyone was thinking, "A collection of pet fishes?"

Crash slumped his shoulders in embarrassment, "Nevermind."

"So, uhh..." Manny started, examining the fossil cave, "Why is this fossil cave so big?"

"Well, what if I told you that Rudy isn't exactly at his full height?" Buck stopped, and turned to the herd.

The mammoth was curious, "What do you mean his 'full height'?"

The weasel zipped out through a curtain of leaves that covered the fossil, which got everyone looking at each other. Buck came back when he popped his head from the roof of the cave, letting a bit of light in, and his knife struck the ground in front of Manfred. He dropped a good length of vine and climb down, holding a small portion of white goop in his hands.

"Ooh, what's that?!" Peaches asked excitedly, smiling.

"Oh this? It's clay, little fruity."

Manny pouted, "Her name is Peaches."

"Oh," Buck's ears dropped for a moment, "Sorry mate. Any how..." his ears perked up again, and he landed on his two feet, grabbing his knife and starting to carve out a familiar shape; Rudy.

"What if I told you," the weasel began, as he stopped from carving, and examining his piece of art work as he spoke, "that we're walking under Mummy Rudy's bones?"

He looked up at the herd with a deranged grin.

The herd's ears dropped at the information.

"Y-you mean..." Crash gulped, "there was someone bigger than Rudy himself?"

"Yes," Buck replied, turning and starting to march again; continuing to carve, whatever he is carving. "But no worries, she's dead. I mean, she was only four feet bigger than baby Rudy..."

"Wait, what?" Manny was confused, "Dinosaurs can grow that big?"

"Yes." replied Buck.

"Then, how did she die?" Eddie asked.

Buck blew at his finished art work, dusting it off, and admiring it for a moment before replying to the opossum's question. "No one knows, she just collapsed one day, and died. At least, that's the story. I wasn't there when Mummy Rudy died, mates. If you think about it, I was only a tiny little weasel." His ears dropped for a moment, and holding his knife and statue in one hand, Buck made a pinching gesture with his free hand, "You know, a cute little baby weasel?"

He strangely began cooing, murmuring something about himself being a baby before hugging the statue he carved. Manny decided it was enough weird stuff for now, and asked, "So you're telling us that you've actually been fighting a baby dinosaur all this time?"

Buck shook his head as he was snapped back to reality, "No mate. Rudy's eight years old, Baryonyx dinosaurs only live up to twelve."

A _crash!_ in the distance, and an shout of annoyance.

"_BUCKMINSTER_!!!!" came that old raspy voice again, only this time, it was fuming.

The weasel chuckled nervously, "Oops. Looks like the doctor's calling."_

* * *

__Woot, tell me what you think! I don't exactly know how many years Baryonyx dinosaurs live up to... I just made that up. Lol._


	9. Hammocks and Peaches

**Disclaimer:**Alright, I lied. Doktor is being introduced in this chapter. I don't own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OCs!

**Note:** _Whoa, I never thought of getting reviews from _**Locrian-Mode**_ and _**FABCHICKXO**_, being two of the many great writers here on ._

**Locrian-Mode**_, thank you for your wonderful review! I never knew my story could be so colourful, that, and loads of fun to read. My ideas just come into mind, and I take what I find interesting from films, games, and books and incorporate them into the Ice Age world; quite fun to do actually. I'm glad I have Buck in character, he's hard to portray._

_You're one of my victims now _**FABCHICKXO**_! Nah, just kidding..._

**haleygirl28**_, I updated, I updated! Lol!_

* * *

**Hammocks and Peaches, Chapter Nine**

At the end of the cave, was a view that opened up to a beautiful waterfall... save for the clutter of old and fresh bones, and cracked eggshells that decorated the ground, and a very grumpy, and old hypsilophodon dinosaur swatting at the pterosaur with his cane. He was Doktor, one of the many great medics of the dinosaur kingdom; who used to take anger management classes until he left because the course was a waste of his precious time. Which was true, since he had his clinic of take care of, and it seems that he has a lot of cleaning up to do.

The herd stared in awe once again, and Crash and Eddie "whoa'd" at the scenery. Buck shook his head with a laugh. _Tourists_. The weasel cried out from Doktor's cane hitting his head.

"Buckminster you baffoon!" yelled the medic, "What is wrong with you? Take care of your pet or I'll dismantle him on the medical bed!"

"Oh come off it, doc," Buck rubbed his sore forehead, "He's just a baby."

The medic growled, "I do not care if he is a child. I will tear him apart if I have to--GET OFF THAT STATUE YOU DERANGE BIRD!"

Pett chirped happily and obeyed, however the statue pitched forward and fell. Doktor shrieked as it was a gift from his mummy (who was deceased), and covered his eyes. Slowly, he opened them and glared at Manfred for 'saving' the doomed rock.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" he raised his cane.

Manny gently put the stone in a corner where it won't be damaged, and recoiled; frightened of the doctor. "Not touching!"

Doktor glared, "Good. NOW DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING ELSE OR I'LL THROW THE WEASEL AT YOU!"

"Throw me," Buck pointed to the stone with his knife, "and that ugly rock is going down the falls!"

The doctor gasped, "You wouldn't _dare_."

"Oh yes, I will." the weasel checked his nails, "I'm quite the daredevil actually."

Manny rolled his eyes, "An insane one too."

Peaches giggled, and the twins hopped over to the statue, examining it. Pouting, Doktor turned away and gestured for the patiently waiting pterosaur to come over to the stone medical bed. There Pett landed and he opened up his mouth wide for the Doktor to peek in.

"Dude, this is just some rock." Eddie said, and Crash nodded.

"I know," agreed Buck, "I would've thrown it away years ago."

"I heard that!" the medic called from his check up. Buck shrugged and walked over to a small hammock outside. He had made it himself, and it had always been there since Pett's first check-up. Stabbing his knife on the ground beside the hammock, he threw himself over the leave and landed on it, with his arms crossed behind his back and one leg over the other. He began to rest.

The opossum twins, idolizing Buckminster, thought it'd be cool to make their own hammock and climbed a few trees grabbing materials while Doktor waved the mammoth family off to help themselves to a few fruits out in the back where everybody else was, before he continued to check up on Pett.

Peaches ran over to Manny once she had been settled down on the ground by her mother, and waited for the male mammoth to pick a few peaches of the trees. She giggled as one fell to the ground, and happily started chewing on it.

"Oops, sorry." Manny passed one to Ellie, "Here you go, Ellie."

"Thanks," she took it and set it on the ground for a moment. Manny looked at her worriedly, "You're not hungry? Are you sick?"

"No no, it's not that." Ellie replied, "It's just... I'm worried about Sid and Diego."

"If anything, I'm sure Diego will manage." said Manny, "But I don't know about Sid."

"No worries, mates--"

Startled, Manfred screamed at the weasel on his head, "How'd you get up there?!"

"Don't get your trunk in a knot; I climbed, like all weasels do. But," he said, reaching over his patch and tightening it, "I sent my assistant to track your friend tiger down. I thought the sloth would've been with you, but let's just hope my assistant will also bring the sloth back as well."

"Assistant?" Ellie repeated.

"You have a sidekick?!" Crash beamed, and turned to his brother who had been fixing their hammocks, "Eddie, we should get sidekicks too!"

"Well, I guess you can call her that." Buck said, and slid down the mammoth's tail, landing on both feet and wiping his hands off, "But she's more of like a daughter to me."

"Ooh!" Peaches was interested, "What's her name?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," Buck ruffled the small mammoth's fur, "she should be here soon."

In the distance, familiar voices started to fade into the tunnel. Doktor cursed himself for forgetting to close the entrance, but was relieved when he heard a familiar, female voice. Pett chirped happily and flew down the tunnel.

"Doktor, you there--oh, Pett! I guess dad's already here."_

* * *

__Who could that be? Hmm._


	10. Campfire Stories

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything related to 'Ice Age' other than my OCs.

**Note:** **FABCHICKXO**_, I hope you don't mind if I borrow your title for my chapter. If you do mind, I'll change it ;)_

_Sorry folks, but this was just an idea I came up with. It'll appear in future chapters too, but what I'm apologizing for is the shortness of this chapter. None of you might get it yet, but in the end you will, so no worries._

* * *

**Campfire Stories, Chapter Ten**

_A great number of animals huddled around the campfire; armadillos, turtles, even birds such as condors on the trees. The ones that stood out the most was the female mammoth in the back of the group, two petite possums, and a saber cub that sat in front of the campfire. They all surrounded a story teller, an old weasel, a _very_ old weasel. He sat on the surface of a flat rock; the campfire creating a silhouette of his shadow on the wall of rock behind him._

_He shakily drank water from a small bowl with one hand, as he kept his cane made of branch on his lap to keep from falling. He set the bowl down, and wiped his mouth dry, and continued with the story..._

_"The end."_

_Or, that's what everyone thought._

_Awes, and sounds of disappointed animals echoed throughout the campfire. The weasel chuckled raspily, adjusting his old dried up leaf eye patch before taking his cane and raising it, gesturing for the animals to sit back down._

_"Alright, alright..." he said, softly, but loud enough for the animals to hear, "I will continue the story, in one condition." He raised up a shaky index finger._

_"What is it, grandpa?" the saber cub tilted his head in curiosity._

_"Riddle me this," he brought his hands down, "where... does courage come from?"_

_The children raised their paws and wings, hopping up and down and stretching their limbs farther so they'd be pick. The weasel didn't pick any children. Instead, he pointed a shaking finger at the female mammoth in the very back, and then let his hand drop slowly to his lap again._

_"What do you think, lass?" the weasel questioned her calmly, "Where does courage come from?"_

_She didn't hesitate, and answered kindly, "From the heart."_

_One of the opossums scratched their head, "I always thought it came from your fist when you're about to punch someone."_

_The saber cub rolled his green oculars, and everyone else turned back to the storyteller._

_The weasel chuckled, "Yes, it came, from the heart..."_

_"Why?" asked the same possum. The other possum just slapped his forehead in embarrassment._

_The weasel sighed heavily; those two possums were as annoying as their parents were. But fun, nonetheless. A great sense of humor as replied, "If you'd let me continue, lad, I will tell you."_

_Everyone grew silent, for the weasel to continue._


	11. A Weasel For a Knife

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OCs and this story.

**Note:** _It's alright _**metacognitive**_, and is it that obvious? But yes, you're right. However, I'm not telling you which of the comments you typed are write. You'll find out soon enough though, don't worry ;)_

_Thank you for both of your reviews _**FABCHICKXO**_, and I was just kidding about you being a new victim. Yey! I can use your title, woot. But yes, old Buck is hard to imagine, ey? I tried my best to keep him in character even if he was at his old age, so I'm glad you liked the chapter._**

* * *

****A Weasel For a Knife, Chapter Eleven**

"Who is that?" Sid looked at Pett, who in return chirped happily.

Lois gently shooed the bird off and it obediently flew away, back to the others. She turned to Sid and replied, "That's my dad's pet, Pett."

"Your dad's pet's name is Pett?"

"Yeah!" Lois giggled, "Isn't he cute?"

Diego leaped off of Momma's back, and walked over to the two, "Who is your dad?"

"Buck, _duh_." she crossed her wings, "Didn't I tell you already?"

Diego gave her a strange look and shook his head. He waited for Sid's response, "Sheesh, and you all thought I was strange."

"_Hey_, what's that suppose to mean?" Lois pouted.

"Nothing, nothing!" Sid said, and hurried along, followed by his kids and Momma. Diego gave Lois a smile, "Don't mind Sid."

"Oh yeah," Lois replied, flying over to the tiger and perching herself on his back as he proceeded further into the tunnel. "He's narrow-minded, but we all love him." she paused, then, "Although we only met for an hour."

"You're a good citizen, Lois," Diego said, "I'm sure you have plenty of friends."

"Nah, not really. I prefer to stay with papa more," she answered back, "He's more entertaining than most of the animals here."

"A weasel living in the jungle by his own wits, and slowly loosing his mind each day," Diego nodded, "I'd say he's entertaining, but... yeah, Buck's a good guy. I just never imagined him to have a family, that's huge."

"Surprising, huh?" Lois smiled softly, and Diego returned a nod. They entered the backyard where everyone was waiting.

Momma dinosaur had taken a spot in the middle of cliff outside and began to rest, while Doktor examined Sid who was chatting with Manny and Ellie, from his spot rubbing his chin, and the dinosaurs were playing with Peaches and the opossums.

Diego watched as Lois flew over to Buck and greeted him a hug. The two began chatting and Lois flew away for a moment, and came back with apples for both her the weasel. Diego smiled at the happy family.

Just then his vision blurred, and Diego shook his head to try and rid of the unclear vision. He hadn't noticed that Doktor had been watching him, and the dinosaur hurried over.

"What's wrong, lad?"

"It's..." Diego trailed off, his right hind leg began stinging with pain, "It's my leg."

"..." the Doktor glared, and hit Diego with his cane.

"Ow, what the..." Diego stumbled back, taken aback, "what'd you do that for?"

"You've got four legs, CAT." Diego pouted at the comment, "Tell me which leg is it!"

"It's my hindleg, the right one."

The Doktor circled Diego, and bent down to examine the tiger's leg. He raised his cane and poked it. Diego cried out and stumbled forward, he growled at the dinosaur.

"What are you trying to do--"

"LOIS!" yelled the grumpy hypsilophodon, startling everyone in the area and making Momma wake up from her nap. Then, with a soft voice, "Could you please come here, dear?"

Lois gave her 'father' a strange look, who in returned shrugged, and she flew towards the Doktor, and landed beside Diego.

"What's wrong?"

"The tiger says his leg hurts."

Diego shrugged, "I don't know what happened, something just stung me."

The Doktor pouted, "Well that doesn't really help."

"Hmm," Lois rubbed her chin as she looked at Diego's leg, "He was beside a lot of bushes, and flowers. A flower root might've stung him, nothing serious."

"Ah yes," the Doktor nodded, he reached for Lois' head and patted the bat, "Thank you dear, I'll take care of your friend for now."

Diego looked back and forth at the two, bewildered, and turned back to the Doktor who had disappeared. He looked to his left and saw that the medic was digging through a shelf of cracked eggshells and pulled a few leaves out.

"If you don't mind me asking--"

"SHH, DON'T TALK!" snapped the dinosaur, "Now go to the medical bed and stay there. Don't move. I'll be putting some herbs on that sting of yours and if it's gone tomorrow morning, you'll be fine."

"And if it isn't?" Diego's hazel eyes followed the doctor to the other side of the cave.

"Then that means you'll die within eighteen days, now get your aft up and go on the bed!" Doktor raised his cane, and watched in amusement as the tiger obeyed and laid down on the bed. He smiled, "Good boy."

* * *

Dawn drew in, and everyone had breakfast. Momma, Egbert, Shelly and Yoko said their goodbyes to Sid, while Pett kept helping himself to fruits on Doktor's trees. Diego was relieved that the stinging feeling on his leg had gone, and he felt better than ever.

Buck hopped off his hammock and stood in front of the herd that gathered for their journey back to the ice age. Lois wasn't far away, as she was perched on a branch of a plum tree, picking plums for the Doktor.

"Thanks again, for saving us." Manny said. Buck waved him off, turning to leave, "No worries, mammals. Now, let's get you back to--"

He never finished his sentence when a pterodactyl swooped down and snatched him off the ground. Lois gasped and dropped the plums she had been picking, she went in pursuit after the flying creature, "Dad!" she called after him dramatically, but was struck down by another pterodactyl that surprised her from below.

"Lois!" Buck struggled, and gasped at the flock of pterodactyls that had started to ambush the herd down before. Knife in hand, he raised his limb, and cried out in pain when the pterodactyl purposely let him hit a rock before continuing it's flight.

Rudy's tooth slipped out from the weasel's gripped, and as Buck desperately tried to grab for it, it kept falling, until it struck the ground.

Pett was too frightened, and he hid himself between the large bushes surrounding him. The pterodactyls weren't there to eat, but to distract the herd. They soon retreated when Buck had been taken, and a few of them was struck by a log thrown by Manny.

"YOU RUINED MY LAWN, YOU INSANE BIRDS!!!" Doktor waved his cane, "I WILL GET YOU!!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Diego got the dinosaur's attention, "Where are they taking Buck?"

"We need to get to him!" Crash cried, worried about his and Eddie's 'master'.

"I know, I can lead the way." Lois said, "They're taking him to Rudy."

"What?!" Manny exclaimed, "Rudy has minions?"

Lois nodded, "Apparently so. We have to get to the Abyss before Rudy hurts my dad!"_

* * *

__Oh no, Buck!_


	12. Not Yet

**Disclaimer:**I don't own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OCs, and this story.

**Note:** _Thank you for your review _**NewEclipse**_, it's always nice to get more people interested. Don't worry, Buck won't die._

_Whew, we're almost at the end of our story people, and I apologize to _**pachysam**_ because I didn't get to use his ideas, only one. I'm really sorry, but I suddenly found another way to end my story. So maybe three more chapters or so, it depends if more ideas pop into my head._

_Oh, what?! I wanted to read more of your story _**Locrian-Mode**_(I apologize for not reviewing on chapter two. I forgot, I was writing... lol. I have to read it again)! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter 'Campfire Stories' I was worried that people will sue me for turning Buck into an oldie, and it's funny how the Doktor reminds you of House, because now that I think about it, he is a bit like the lovable doctor House._

_Whoa. I seemed to have created a lovable character... everyone loves Doktor! Thanks for the review, _**metacognitive**_._

* * *

**Not Yet, Chapter Twelve**

_The cluster of animals waited as the weasel decided to take another break, coughing once, twice, trice. He scratched his head for moment, looking up at the starts with a lone eye, trying to remember where he left off._

_"And then what happened?!" someone called from the audience, "Did Buck die?!"_

_"Ah ha!" the weasel's ears perked up, "Now I remember."_

_He continued..._

* * *

After persuading Ellie and Peaches to stay with the Doktor, the men and Lois hurried off to find Buck. Passing through the jungle, Diego jogged towards a hilltop in pursuit of Manny and Lois.

"G-guys..." Sid called from the back, out of breath. Everyone ignored him.

"So what exactly is the Abyss?" Manny asked to a flying Lois.

"We used to call it the Plaits of Woe2, but that just sounded stupid, so we called it the Abyss. It being a bottomless pit, because if you looked through the cracks and holes, it's all black. That, and if you throw rocks down there, you don't here them hit the ground." Lois replied, "It doesn't matter right now!" she cried worriedly.

"But if it's an endless pit, Rudy should've fallen through already." Diego stated, still running.

Lois shook her head, "It's land, a huge surface of rock. Anyone can cross it unless they're as big as Rudy, but Rudy had always crossed it, and no one knows how it can hold up that big of a dinosaur."

Manny's ears perked up, "So he should've fallen through and died already, right?"

"Exactly."

Diego skidded to a stop, stopping the others. He panted, shaking his head to find an answer to his question, "But that's impossible--"

They winced at Sid's sudden shriek, and they looked up above as pterodactyls swooped down on them. The two opossums that had been on Manny's back screamed and 'died' at the sight of the flying creatures.

"Crash, Eddie, come with me!" Lois swooped past Manny, and without hesitation the twins obeyed after coming out of their act and jumped onto the passing flying fox bat.

"We're leaving them?!" cried Eddie. Lois shook her head, "We're just getting some ammo, hold on!"

She torpedoed pass branches while the pterodactyls that had been chasing them crashed into the body of the tree because they were to big to pass through after them. Crash spotted ammo nearby and snatched a good plenty for him and Eddie. They started firing at the pursuing pterodatcyls.

Manny and Diego used the venus flytraps as an advantage, and lured the clueless creatures into them, while Sid hid behind a few bushes here and there, frightened.

"Whoa, Manny!" Diego called out when a root of a flower coiled around his ankle. The mammoth came quickly and dropped a branch on the root, giving the tiger time to struggle out and run.

Lois flew back to the others after Crash and Eddie had helped her, she nodded towards the mammoth and tiger.

"Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, but we have to get Sid. He's hiding in the bushes." Diego said. Manny just rolled his eyes, "He should've just stayed with Ellie and that insane doctor." Crash and Eddie snickered.

A shriek of pterodactyls came from another direction, and Lois gestured for the group to quickly follow. Just as the flying creatures entered the rain forest, Lois and the others were huddled inside a small cave, trying to make little noise as possible. When the pterodactyls had gone, they crept out slowly, and back onto the trail one by one.

Diego was the last to exit the cave, and he stopped as pain shot through his body. He watched as the others disappeared down a path in search of Sid, and he clutched at his chest, panting. A fatigue it was, no more. It was something worse. He was...

Diego pushed himself forward, limping down the trail, and when he gained enough strength, he followed after the herd.

His hazel eyes were no longer the shinning oculars they used to be. They were dull, and tired, just like Diego. The pain was unbearable, the smildon could fall over at any moment, but not yet... he had to help, he had to save Buck.

Not yet.

Death can't take him... not yet.

* * *

_Alas, we find out what is happening to Diego!_


	13. Hello Rudy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OCs, and this story.

**Note:** _I changed the summary, and hopefully it suits the story better. Or not. You guys decide ;)_

_Yes, and the fact that he idolizes Buck is great, I hope that Buckminster makes an appearance in the fourth film of 'Ice Age' if they're making another film. That'd be great, I would watch it over and over. Haha, and poor Sid. I'm so cruel to him when it comes to fighting scenes, and thanks for the review _**Locrian-Mode**_. I hope to read more of your story._

_I... FOUND... THE GREATEST SONG FOR OUR FAVOURITE BACHELORS (used to be...)! _**"All For Love" by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting**_ - I love it, I think it suits Manny, Sid and Diego's brotherhood and their loved ones. The song is originally from 'The Three Musketeers' so whenever I think about 'Ice Age' I can see our favourite animals in armor and hats, complete with the fencing swords. Lol. I advise you to listen to it, it's absolutely amazing, and if I had to pick, who would be who... I'd say Sid can be Rod Stewart, Sting is Manny and Bryan Adams is Diego._

_Now I want to find a song for Buckminster, lol._

_Anyways,_

_~Enjoy, and happy readings ;)

* * *

_**Hello Rudy, Chapter Thirteen**

The pterodactyl that had been carrying Buck finally dropped the weasel on the surface of the Abyss. Buck, flipping to his feet checked his surroundings for any sign of the Baryonyx. A smile crept into his face; he can smell the beast. Rudy was near, and had the sky turned grey? Yes. Just _perfect_. He sensed a storm coming.

Various tall trees in the distance, a cliff here and there, and the Abyss was at the center of it all; in between. He was hopeless without his knife, but he couldn't go look for the weapon now. Rudy's minions were patrolling the area, and a few had landed on the edges of the cliffs to keep watch unless he tries to escape back into the rain forest.

Loud thumps, Buck's head snapped into the direction of falling trees...

_"Then came a mighty roar!"_

_The crowd of animals gasped._

Rudy emerged from the rain forest, and came another roar that sent the startled pterodactyls sitting on the edge of the cliffs to fly. The white dinosaur turned it's ruby eyes to it's rival, growling in hatred as he licked the spot of where his tooth used to be.

"Hello, Rudy." came Buck's calm greeting.

The Baryonyx stepped forward, and Buck stepped back.

_"Now Buck knew what Rudy was thinking," the weasel told, "He could even feel it; thousands of teeth crunching down on his limbs to keep him from escaping. But of course, this is _the_ Buck we're talking about. He can out run any dinosaur... at least, that's what he thought."_

_"OH MY GOD HE DIED!"_

_The animals glared at the opossum, "SHH!"_

The heavens started to cry, the many droplets of water pour from the skies and onto Buck and Rudy's battlefield. However, came a flash of thunder and Buckminster was gone. Rudy drew back and looked to the distance where he saw that petite weasel running. He quickly went in pursuit, gaining on the small creature. He snapped once but Buck had already turned the other way towards the cliffs. His eyes shifted to the direction of the weasel, and with his tail, Rudy flicked Buck away from the cliffs.

Buck cried out as he hit solid ground with a sickening crunch from one his arms. Great, just what he needed, a broken limb. The ground began to rumble beneath him, and his conscience called out to him.

_Get up, Buck!_

The weasel forced himself up and he was on all fours a moment later. He was limping, but running like this was faster than running on two feet. His lone ocean blue oculars darted in all directions, trying to find something he could use against Rudy. The rain wasn't helping, and definitely not the thunder. He could get struck at any moment now, and he'd serve as a wonderful appetizer to Rudy. He knew he would.

He spotted ammo in the distance, berries on a branch. If he could get it, and use it on Rudy's eyes, he could escape. Buck forced himself to run faster.

Lighting struck the ground a few feet away in front of him, and Buck tripped over himself, sliding across the slippery surface of the Abyss.

The ground cracked beneath him and he hopped off before the ground gave away. When he looked up, he met the crimson eyes of Rudy. Buck prayed that the surface beneath the baryonyx would crack open, but he was being too hopeful. This is the end.

"Up here, _ugly_!"

Rudy looked up and a familiar knife, Buck's knife, and what used to be his tooth struck him right in the pupil. He roared in pain and stumbled back. That damn bat!

"Owned by a bat," Crash said, he turned to his brother, "AWESOME." they both said in union and held on tight as Lois dove towards the ground.

"Hold on!" she said. More pterodactyls had appeared over the cliffs. Crash and Eddie waved her off, "Leave it to us, Lois!" one of them said, and pulled out more ammo.

"Yeah!" Eddie started firing, "We'll do the throwing, and you can do the flying."

"You know, it's dangerous to be flying in the rain." Lois stated, "Are you sure you want to do this?!"

"Anything for Buck!" Ten pterodactyls down, and a dozen more to go.

* * *

Diego reached the edge of the cliff panting, his eyes darting to the direction of Rudy. He watched as Manny retrieved Buck and disappeared into the forest before he turned back to the dinosaur. He waited, and waited, and when Rudy was below him he leaped into the air towards Rudy's forehead.

His vision blurred, and Diego missed his landing spot, sliding down the slippery scales of the Baryonyx. He quickly sunk his claws into the dinosaur's flesh, and came a roar of pain from Rudy. Diego held on tight as the dinosaur tried to shake him off. Slowly, he pushed himself forward, grabbing onto the bumps on Rudy's back, and he started to climb.

The rain and the wind blowing by made it difficult to climb the dinosaur, but Diego didn't give up. He was starting to climb Rudy's neck now. If he could just reach that next...

A pterodactyl slammed into him. Diego lost his grip and desperately tried to hold onto Rudy's side he's been able to hold onto, which was much harder with the rain, the wind, and the flying creature who's being such a nuisance. He closed his eyes shut to take a moment to breathe. He was getting worse by the minute, his heart felt as if it was getting squeezed by something inside him. Panting, Diego looked up worriedly. If he just _reach_ that bump.

* * *

_Dun dun dun..._


	14. Goodbye

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OCs, and this story.

**Note:** _LOL, _**Fiat Noctum **_I updated just as you reviewed._

**Locrian-Mode**_, how coincidental of us to write a comment nearly similar to each other, but you must continue on with your story, I'm just dying to read more of it! I think using nature is a good way to express a story, and I like taking advantage of a storm like that. Because come on, who would slip on dry ground? Also, I created a flaw for myself, but I found a way around it so no worries. You'll all find out soon why the Abyss is the way it is._**

* * *

****Goodbye, Chapter Fourteen**

Diego heaved himself up on Rudy to meet up with a pterodactyl. He kicked it off the moving dinosaur when it tried to advance on him, and while clutching at his chest, the smilodon tiger looked around for anymore signs of the flying creatures. He didn't see anything, and from exhaustion and pain, he started climbing again.

Lois spotted a quetzalcoatlus in the distance, flapping it's massive wings in the without breaking a sweat; yet she had to try hard from all this rain. She heard the twins on her back point the creature out, and the Doktor seemed to be on it. She flew over.

"Doktor!" she called, and landed on the large bird. The twins hopped off and ran to the large bird's head.

"Lois!" the Doktor shouted, against the storm, "Where's Buck?!"

"Manny has him, he's fine!" she replied, "What do you need?"

"Nothing, I just came because I thought you might need some assistance." he said, "And do not worry, Ellie and Peaches are with that sloth's dinosaur wife. They're perfectly--"

The quetzalcoatlus swerved to the side, and everyone clutched at the bird's fur. It shrieked at the swarm of pterodactyls and charged.

Lois looked to the opossums, "Crash, Eddie, the ammo!"

"We don't have anymore!" Eddie said, "We ran out!"

Doktor turned to the trio, "That is where you're wrong, lad!"

The medic passed the berries he had collected before turning back towards the advancing birds in the distance, he raised his cane and pointed it at the flying creatures. "CHARGE!"

The quetzalcoatlus obeyed, shrieking to the doctor's command and dove for the ground, giving the opossums to load up. Lois gasped as she spotted a dozen of pterodactyls heading towards Diego and Rudy. She quickly turned to the others, "Eddie come with me!"

Eddie saluted to his brother, "Take care of the Doktor, bro!"

Crash returned the salute, "You take care of Lois!"

And they separated, with Lois flying back to Diego and Rudy. She turned her head to the side to see how the opossum was doing, "You okay up there, Eddie?"

"Don't worry about me, Lois. Let's go save tigy-wigy!" He shot his first berry, when Lois flew past a pterodactyl. Bulls-eye! Eddie reloaded, and got ready for the rest of the flock. Lois brought him into the awaiting battle.

"_FIRE_!" Lois, and Doktor commanded from their separating distances. The twins fired here and there, not missing a pterodactyl in sight.

Diego, seeing that the pterodactyls are being eliminated one by one climbed his way up faster onto Rudy. The Baryonyx never forgot his presence as it tried shaking him off again, and the saber nearly slipped off.

Just then, a pterodactyl came to Diego's side and knocked him off the dinosaur. He was taken aback at the poweful hit and was confused as to what just happened before he hit the ground, bouncing on the hard surface, and slamming into the cliff's side.

He didn't get up.

Manny, Sid, and Buck who had retrieved vines to bind Rudy with, along with Lois and Eddie who hovered in the sky, had seen the whole thing. They waited for a moment, a sign that Diego was fine and he'd get up. But seconds passed and the tiger lay still. No one could blame him, as he fell from such a height, but was he alright is the question.

An ear twitched, a paw moved, Diego fought to get on his his two feet and once he did, his oculars slowly faded from it's hazel to their green colours; shinning in the moonlight. Not even a dinosaur can take him down that quickly when it came to his own duel with death.

He wasn't going to let himself die just yet, maybe later, when he's of old age, but not now. His legs strained, but he growled to gain strength, and slowly, he stepped forward. Rudy had turned to watch in amusement at to what was the tiger doing. He could tell, that Diego really wanted to be part of his meal. He licked his lips.

That was the cue for Buck, with a yell of 'CHARGE!' he, and Manny charged with the vines they collected. Sid didn't look like much help, but he was trying. Really.

Diego roared and leaped, Rudy brought his head down to snap at the tiger, but Diego was faster, using the slippery surface of the Abyss and sliding under the baryonyx and calling out to Manny.

"Manny, over here!" the mammoth passed him a vine, and together, the lot of animals circled the beast, tying and tightening the everlasting vines. Rudy fell to his stomach, struggling to get the tightly tied vines but to no avail. After taking back his prized possession; Rudy's tooth, Buck hopped of the dinosaur and gestured for the others to come quickly, "We have to hurry, this won't hold him long!"

They started to follow quickly, but when thunder struck the cliff from above, they watched as the tip of the terrain broke off and landed onto the surface of the Abyss, which by the way, cracked open and let the piece of land fall through. Nothing had ever broken through the surface off the Abyss, but now...

That's not all the falling edge of the cliff did. As it smashed through a piece of the Abyss it also created a pattern of cracks that spread throughout the entire Abyss. Then, pieces of the rock land gave away and fell into the bottomless pit, and that is when the animals saw why the Abyss had been so strong. Thick, ginormous branches that coiled around together had held the surface of rock from above them, that is what held the Abyss up. The holes and cracks animals had looked through where too small for them to see the branches and the pebbles and rocks they must've thrown down into the hole possibly just ended up stuck in the branches or had passed through gaps and fell into the pit. The Abyss wasn't a mystery more.

Hearing Sid's frightened scream, Buck snapped out of his senses and continued to gesture for the herd to follow, "GO GO _GO_!"

He ran off, with everybody else. One of Rudy's vine snapped, and Lois was the only one close enough to hear it through the sudden thunder. She turned to the herd and said, "Take care of my dad!"

Buck's ears perked up, he turned and his faced turned to horror as he saw Lois retreating back towards the dinosaur. The ground was giving away towards Rudy. He leaped into the air, "LOIS NO!" but before he could touch ground, something had snatched him from above the sky. He looked up, "DOKTOR, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Lois grabbed the two vines with her feet that had snapped and tried to pull as hard as she could to keep Rudy from escaping, but she was failing ever so fast. She kepty trying, and Rudy was still to tangled to reach and swipe at her.

Diego turned to Manny when the mammoth went to help, he blocked his way. Manny gave the tired a look, "Diego, we have to help her!"

"No Manny, _I_ have to help her. You, Sid, and Eddie follow after Buck before the whole place falls apart!"

"We are _not_ leaving you Diego!" argued the mammoth. Before Diego could reply Eddie cut in, "Dude are you crazy?!"

"We don't have time to argue!" Diego snapped, "Go. NOW!"

"But..." Manny tried to find his words, "Y-you're a part of our family, we have to stick together, remember?"

"I..." Diego sighed, "I'm sorry Manny, but my journey ends here."

"What do you mean?" Sid asked, "If you let us help no one's journey has to end. Especially Lois' so I suggest--"

"I'm dying, Sid." came Diego's sad reply. Manny, Sid, and Eddie was beyond shock. The smilodon tiger shook his head, looking down sadly, and back up again, "I know I should've told the herd sooner, but I'm the least of your worries. And knowing you Manny, you'll start looking for a cure."

"Because you're my friend, you're like a brother to me Diego." Manny explained, "A brother to me and Sid, and an uncle to Peaches."

"A-and..." Eddie sobbed; shocking for everyone to see. The opossum embraced Diego's paw that was closest to him, he looked up at the tiger, "And we'll miss you."

Diego chuckled softly, panting Eddie's back gently and pushing the possum back gently towards his brothers. He watched the young creature climb up to the mammoth's head and there he cried softly. Sid wasn't crying, but he never felt so depressed inside. In his life, he'd never met guys like Manny and Diego, who accepted them for who he was, and teased him for who he was. They were... his family.

"Diego, you can't leave..."

"I'm sorry Sid," Diego smiled softly, "but it's been a pleasure to be part of the herd, and seeing you two... have a family," he chuckled, "I'm happy for you both."

Manny couldn't hold the sadness rising up from within him, he let a single tear from his eye and his trunk reached out to the saber, patting him on the head. He withdrew, and said...

"I guess... this is goodbye, huh?"

Diego looked up at Manfred, "Yeah, big guy."

Sid shook his head, "Please tell me you're joking."

Diego just smiled sadly, "Take care Sid, you too Manny, and Eddie... hang in there."

Eddie nodded slowly, before burying his face into Manny's wet fur again and crying.

Thunder struck the visible branches from under the Abyss, and a fire lit up, which quickly spread through the entire tangle of dried up, and very old tree roots. It won't be long before the whole land collapses.

Sid reached out to the tiger, but Manny's trunk grabbed him and the mammoth set the sloth up on his back, and quickly retreated into the rain forest. Panting, he took one last glance at Diego.

Diego gestured to them one last time, with a paw on one eye and lifting it up. _Good memories_.

He waved goodbye.

* * *

_I cried while writing this._


	15. Goodbye pt2

**Disclaimer:**I do not own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OCs, and this story.

**Note: **_Aw, thanks for the compliment _**FABCHICKX0**_, and it's nice to know I have everyone in character, but I don't think it's perfect; I know I'm OOC here and there, but thank you._

_Yes _**nakota2mustang**_, I literally cried. I take what I think is sad and put into a story such as this one. Also, it's nice to know that we can relate, it makes me feel better that I'm not alone. Lol. Haha, and thank you for the comment on Lois' photo. I didn't draw all of it, copied actually. I couldn't draw the bat, so I had to copy a picture and make a few changes here and there. I added the accessories after figuring out how Lois' would wear the stuff. Oh! Before I forget; I already have a chapter planned for Lois' and Buck's meeting so no worries, I'm way ahead of ya', and thank you for the reviews!_

_Sorry _**metacognitive**_, I don't mean to... but I guess I just do it by accident._

**goldenpuon**_, long time no see! Thank you for the review, and Diego's having heart problems, from too long of poor malnourishment and I'm guessing old age, sorry for not explaining it clear enough, I have a tendency to forget to explain things at times. The dinosaur names aren't that hard to spell once you get the hang of it, but the quetzalcoatlus was driving me insane! I had to check back and forth on Google to see if I was right._

_Wee, thanks for the review _**Locrian-Mode**_, they're a lot of fun to read. I also had this butterfly feeling in my stomach when I was writing; I thought people wouldn't like it, but I've never done something like it so I said I'd give it a shot. I'm glad you still find Doktor awesome, and Sid's effort can't be forgotten, it wouldn't be 'Ice Age' without Sid._

_Thank you for your reviews, __**Joe**__, __**Amethyst DragonRider**__, and __**IceAgeLover**__ ;)_

* * *

**Goodbye pt.2, Chapter Fifteen**

**Note: I put dividers up because I think people were confused when I would change to different scenes.**

Using his cane, Doktor pinned the wriggling weasel onto the flying bird. Crash watched worriedly from the hypsilophodon's shoulder, clutching the handle of Buck's knife which was giving to him by the doctor after the medic had taken it away from the escaping weasel.

"Buck, there's no time!"

The weasel fought back, trying to pushing the piece of branch that's pushing him down, "Yes there is, if we go back _now_!"

* * *

"NO!" Lois watched as she lost her grip on the two vines, and slowly, Rudy began to rise, but he fell again.

The flying fox bat looked behind the dinosaur, and saw Diego pulling a third vine back with his teeth, and failing at it. She looked at him worriedly and flew over, she was about to speak when his voice came first, "Lois, he's heading for the cliffs!"

"But what are you doing here? It's too dangerous!"

More thunder, and the rain wasn't helping douse the burning branches of the Abyss. Pieces of the land had already fallen through the pit and they can fall at any second.

"That's not important right now!" the tiger said through gritted teeth.

Lois urged, "You're crazy! You'll kill yourself--"

The vine snapped, the ground cracked, and Diego and Lois moved away from the spot. Rudy's leg fell through and the dinosaur desperately reached for the cliffs.

"Diego, go back to the campsite!"

He shook his head slowly, panting from exhaustion, "No."

"But Diego..." she trailed off, and with a rather raspy voice she answered, "What about your family?"

He looked at her sadly, he could see her crying even in the rain and through her damp fur he felt her depression. He blinked his eyes from the droplets of rain, "I'm dying Lois, and Manny and Sid wanted to come back and help. If I let them do that, and if we didn't get off the Abyss in time they'd be dead. That's why I'm here, to help you and to sacrifice myself; for family."

Time stood still, the rain slowed to a near stop and Lois couldn't see anything but the smilodon tiger in front of her. The way he told her why he had come back... it was... he was so sure, so positive... he wasn't afraid. The same emotions she'd been feeling, Diego was feeling it too. Looking into his eyes she saw that he was fighting. Fighting to stay alive and save his family, and help those in need.

She had to admit that she had given up when the vines had slipped from her grasp, but Diego was there to pick her up and was willing to help her through it all. He picked her up when she'd fallen, and gave her hope.

"Lois,"

Everything played back to it's original speed and she saw the rain pouring heavily again, and the thunder in the distance. She could see that Rudy was struggling to get up in the corner of her eye. She looked to Diego, tears in her eyes.

"Y-yeah?"

"I'm here for you, just tell me what to do."

"But-"

A roar, and the they snapped their heads towards the baryonyx. Rudy had struggled out of the vines and had started to climb the cliff. The ground beneath the dinosaur was slowly disappearing, small portion of land falling into the pit. If they could get Rudy to fall, he'd smash right through. Diego was the first to act, "We need to gouge his eyes!"

Lois nodded, and was quickly in pursuit of the tiger.

* * *

Buck had managed to slip from under the Doktor's cane and proceeded to hop of the flying creature, but Doktor had flicked him back on the dinosaur, now tying a vine to his ankle to the cane.

"What is your problem?!" Buck yelled, "You don't understand what you're doing!" he turned to Crash, and opened his mouth to speak, but the Doktor had beat him to it.

"Don't give him his knife, or I'll be sure to throw you off Charlie." the medic snarled at the opossum. Crash, terrified of the grumpy dinosaur just nodded and kept Rudy's tooth close. Buck had enough.

He leaped towards the medic's hand and sunk his teeth into the dinosaur's hand. Giving a small yelp, the Doktor loose his grip on his cane and it fell, alone with Buck.

Unfortunately, the quetzalcoatlus known as 'Charlie' had caught the cane with his talons, letting the weasel dangle in mid air. The vine was too strong and new to be gnawed off. Buck did the only think he could do and that was roar at the Doktor, "If Lois dies, I will strangle you to death!"

"And what if you died?" Doktor snapped back, "How do you think Lois will feel if you died?! Buck, you need to understand that Rudy isn't the playful dinosaur he was anymore. He's changed. He's a monster!"

"He's always been a monster!"

"HE IS NOT A TOY, BUCK!" the Doktor sighed, "We cannot go back. I promised Lois."

Buck softened, "W-what?"

The Doktor shook his head, "Whatever happens, I cannot take you back. Long ago, Lois made me swore that I would take you to safety instead of her."

Buck shook his head. His 'daughter' was even more insane than he was, risking her life for an old weasel such as himself, "Doktor, promises can't always be kept, we have go back."

The Doktor shook his head.

"I am _begging_ you."

"Buck, you found her as a baby... you've raised her as your own child, and trained her to be a fighter." Doktor said, "And she _has_ been a fighter. Sometimes, we can't always save those who're close to us. You have to understand that this is Lois' decision, not yours."

Buck shut his eyes in sadness. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't bring himself to it. Should he be angry, depressed or happy? Should he be thankful that the one person, who had ever been so close to him was giving her life away to save him. The insane idiot that he was? He felt so awful. He felt so awful that he could cry.

But, he couldn't.


	16. Peacefully

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OCs, and this story.

Note: _Thank you for the reviews, _**Amethyst DragonRider, metacognitive, FACHICKXO.**

_It's alright _**haleygirl28**_, and thank you for the review!_

* * *

**Peacefully, Chapter Sixteen**

The rain was slowing to a near stop now, but the flames grew larger and Rudy quickly reached for the cliff. He started to climb. Lois knew it wouldn't take that long for the Baryonyx to climb, and where was Diego? He disappeared while going back up the cliff again. Relief swept over her when she saw him run to the edge, looking to Rudy from below. She quickly flew over.

"You take the right and I'll take the left," he said. He noticed that she was looking down at the dinosaur worriedly, "Lois?"

She looked up, and smiled softly, "It's just..."

"Go on."

"You never had a sister, right?" she asked, now smiling sadly. He shook his head and returned the smile, "But you would've made a great sister, Lois."

"You too." she replied, "As a brother."

They looked down at Rudy, he was nearly at the top of the cliff. They were out of time. Looking at one another one last time, they smiled. Lois reached for her goggles and took it off, she tied it around one of Diego's front paws.

He was confused, "Why are you giving it to me?"

"Just... in case." she smiled. She had seen a blurr of a grey flying creature pass by before she had met up with Diego. "I wish we had more time, brother."

"We'll make time, after we see each other at the otherside." Lois smiled again; Diego was wrong. 'When_ we see each other at the otherside_' she corrected him in her mind.

Diego turned back to Rudy, as did Lois, and taking deep breaths they charged. Diego lunged, and with his claws, he slashed at the dinosaur's eyes. At the same time, Lois created further damage to the already injured eye of Rudy by stabbing a stick further into the cut. The two animals held on tight to whatever they can as Rudy struggled to stay on the side of the cliff, slipping and falling. Injured and already blind in the other eye, he watched as his other ocular blurred out his surroundings, and Rudy fell. He crashed through the Abyss, and fell into darkness, taking Diego and Lois with him.

* * *

_Everyone waited for the weasel to continue; that he'll surprise them with a happy ending. Instead, he nodded and coughed twice from the chilly breeze that passed by._

_"Yes," he said, "Rudy was gone."_

_The saber in front of the fire shook his head, "No, not him."_

_"Then who is it, lad?" the storyteller asked politely, and waited._

_"Diego and Lois didn't survive?" the cub asked sadly. The old weasel shook his head, "No."_

_The crowd's heads lowered to an obvious sadness. How disappointing it was for them, but the story wasn't quite done yet._

_"Except one."_

* * *

Somewhere, in the bottom of the Abyss came the flapping of wings. It grew louder each passing second, and Pett emerged from the darkness, carrying Diego back up to the surface. The tiger had a sad look in his eyes, his damp fur made the tears falling from his eyes unoticable. The pterodactyl carefully let Diego grab onto the edge of the cliff before swooping down to the ground and resting, tired and sad from the event that had happened.

Diego heaved himself up the cliff, and while doing so the sun had began to rise, the grey clouds disappearing and the rain stopping. After he had safely gotten on top of the cliff, he looked down at the Abyss. He could still spot fire under the surface, slowly burning the branches that held the land. He felt a long face rub against his shoulder. It was Pett, barely chirping from sadness.

As the two gathered themselves together again, they made their way back to everybody else.

* * *

_Peaches had been crying the moment the weasel had started with Diego's goodbye to his herd, and everyone else, one by one joined after. The possums just hung their heads sadly, and made no eye contact with anyone so they wouldn't see the tears in their eyes. The saber cub who had been in front the entire time also had tears in his eyes._

_Peaches had found him by the river a few days ago while looking for the twin possums, having had scars from rolling down a rocky cliff to escape other sabers as he explained. Every aspect of him reminded the herd of Diego. His eyes, personality, his posture, everything... even his smile. But he was not the tiger's child. No. He was attacked by his own pack, his parents brutally murdered, and the only thing he could do to save himself was jump off the rocky cliff. It was lucky that he survived and lived on. He could never hurt Peaches or anybody else in the herd, or other mammals as they saved his life. But seeing him cry was shocking for everyone to see, as he had never shed a tear in front of them, and was rather stubborn at times._

_After giving the mammals their moment, the weasel continued, "The herd went back to the surface after that. No one made conversation except for dear Peaches; who kept asking if Lois had only gone to explore."_

_Peaches smiled sadly._

_"The truth was, no one knew if the bat survived after falling in the pit with Rudy, only one piece of her came back; and that was the object she had given Diego. As it turns out, she had seen Pett fly by earlier, and whistled to the pterodactyl before they fell any longer. Pett only had time to grab Diego."_

_"What happened to Buck?" the saber cub asked softly, wiping another tear from his eye. The weasel smiled and shook his head._

_"It wasn't easy to cope with Lois' death for Buck, but he pulled through. Moved on, but he always kept Lois in his heart."_

_"Where is he now?"_

_"Oh, he's around... probably telling stories like I am. But wherever he is," the weasel smiled, "He's where he wants to be."_

_"That was a great story, Minster." Peaces smiled at the weasel who smiled and nodded back to her slowly. The possums finally looked up from their sad state._

_"What happened to Diego and the rest of the herd?" one asked._

_"They lived, making memories but never forgetting any. Manny had died of old age, and Ellie soon followed a few years after," Minster explained. Peaches nodded._

_"Crash and Eddie died during a swamp accident." The twin opossums nodded, already knowning their fathers' fates; they're the ones that had caused it for being so careless._

_"Sid would visit Momma and her kids; he had died of old age as well." Minster said, "Each died peacefully, and Diego was the first to slip away out of all of them, due to his weakening heart. He died young, resting under the stars... but he had a smile on his face."__

* * *

__Later on, after the mammals had cleared out of the old dinosaur theatre and only a few had stayed, Buck stood from his spot on the stage and carefully hopped his way to the ground. Locrian, as the saber cub was called; offered him a ride back home, but he declined it politely, saying that he could manage. The twin opossums had already fallen asleep, hanging on each of Peaches' tusks; she and Locrian exited the theatre with Minster following closely behind._

_But before the weasel could exit, he turned around to face the old theatre. The mammals and his herd would venture back down here in the dinosaur world. They had made fieldtrips here everyonce in a week, and he'd be their guide. Never knowing that he was _the_ Buck. The Buckminster. But only Peaches knew of his true identity, and he was sure that the opossum twins and Locrian would find out eventually._

_Inhaling the jungle scent, Buck paused, then exhaled. Suddenly, like magic, he was taken back in time; the theatre that had rotting trees and leaves were again covered with the fresh plants. The bar in the corner beside him had also changed to it's older state, when it was still clean and not broken. Even the fireflies had returned, circling around him before separating in a beautiful dance, and under the flying creatures was a herd of party animals. _

_He smiled as he saw Rascal and Doktor fade into view on the stage, waving their canes at eachother, arguing and laughing it out a second later. He saw Crash and Eddie swinging from vine to vine yelling like Tarzan and stick fighting one another. Then there was Sid, making a fool of himself again, but Momma gently rubbed her face against him to show her love. The sloth smiled, pating the dinosaur's nose. Then there was Manny and Ellie; such a lovely couple... he watched as Manfred offered his trunk and Ellie gladly took it with her own. The two headed down the pathway, probably going somewhere to chat privately._

_Last but not least, Diego and Lois. He could watch them all day. The two toasted their drinks with eachother and drank from the coconut cups they had, laughing, with the fireflies circling them to join in their joyous celebration._

_This was his family._

_Buck turned to look back for a last glance, he smiled and exited the theatre, the curtain of leaves closing behind him concealing the many memories that will never be forgotten.__

* * *

__Peaches carefully picked Buck up and gently set him down on his hammock, outside of what used to be Doktor's home until the hypsilophodon passed away. She set his cane down beside the knife that had been in the ground for a long while after Buck had put it there, and gently, she patted her uncle's head._

_"Goodnight, Buck." she said quietly for only her and the weasel to hear. He nodded, "Goodnight, fruity."_

_That was her given nickname from Buck; fruity. She smiled and left to go rest beside her opossum cousins who she had hung on a small branch, and Locrian whow as peacefully sleeping under them. She took a spot beside the trio, and went to sleep._

_Buck had quickly fallen into a deep sleep, dreaming... remembering..._

* * *

_I hope you don't mind that I've used your name Locrian-Mode XD!!!_


	17. Father and Daughter

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything 'ice Age' related other than my OCs, and this story.

**Note:** _No no folks, this isn't quite done yet. Haha, I should've said that in the note of the previous chapter. But anyway, this isn't the last chapter yet. There's one more, after this one._

_Thank you for your reviews!_

* * *

**Father and Daughter, Chapter Seventeen**

Leaning on the tree Buck sat on a branch with his arms crossed behind his head, enjoying the view of the scenery in front of him, wishing there had been an actual sunset to watch as evening slowly drew in. In the distance, everything was in a hue of yellow and he could see some fellow dinosaurs eating here and there; the herbivores of course.

Suddenly, the weasel's ears perked up; and his head snapped to the direction of a small crying sound. It was coming from the swamp. It was faint and barely audible, like a small child crying. Grabbing a vine, and swinging down to the ground, Buck struck his knife into the earth's ground, and continued to proceed towards the sound.

He reached the swamp, and saw a baby bat crying. Buck's ears fell at the sight. Who'd ever leave such a cute little thing in a dirty swamp? He looked around, searching for any sign of it's parents; but he hadn't seen any bats around, just pterodactyls and other flying creatures that were _not_ bats. He couldn't just abandon the kid, especially since winter was drawing in and fall was almost over.

Stooping down to the baby bat, Buck picked the petite creature up. He figured it was a year old since it had fur, very soft fur. The child looked up at him, and he saw her beautiful pale blue eyes in tears. A baby girl bat, with eyes like the ice in December? He'd never seen bats who have eyes like this.

"Oouis!" the bat said, trying to speak to him. He gave her a confused look, ears still drawn back.

"Oouis?" he thought for a moment. She looked at him sadly, her crying slowing down, "N-nane..."

"Nane?" he looked at her, "Do you mean 'name'?"

She nodded happily, finally smiling, "Oouis!"

"Ahh..." Buck nodded, and patted her head, "Alright _Lois_, let's get you cleaned up."

* * *

_Right now I feel - just like a leaf on a breeze,  
__Who knows where it's blowin'  
__Who knows where it's goin'_

Lois watched quietly as Buck made her a small bed after she bad been cleaned, and she tilted her head at the object after she finished. She liked it, it looked comfy. When he gestured for her to come over, she didn't hesitate and tried to run as fast as her little feet would take her. She tripped and fell flat on her face. What a _failure_ she was. But he was there, picking her up, and laying her on the bed he had made.

"There we are..." Buck tucked her in, "Like it?"

She shifted a bit, then nodded and smiled. "We'll look for your parents in the morning, get some rest."

And he left. She looked at him sadly, she didn't want to go back and if the weasel had witnessed what she had, he wouldn't want to take her back either. But she was tired, and she needed rest. Lois closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.

_I find myself somewhere I, I never thought I'd be  
__Going round in circles  
__Thinking about you and me_

It had been a few months now, and Buck had allowed Lois to stay with him. Her parents was nowhere to be found, and she didn't want to go back. She said that they had left her, and she was forgotten; but the flying fox bat was adjusting quite well to his kind of living. She had also learned to fly now, and perched herself on the branch beside him, the leaf scarf he had given her rippling in the breeze that passed by.

"Papa, papa!" she called, "I lost mama in the bushes and I can't find her."

Mama? ... PINEAPPLE! Buck got to his feet, faster than a jack rabbit and threw himself into the bundle of bushes nearby, searching, searching... until finally he emerged with the pineapple. Lois stared at him strangely as he began to cradle the fruit, and tilted her head.

_How do I explain it when,  
__I don't know what to say,  
__What do I do now - so much has changed..._

Buck smirked as he peeked out of the bushes, he could see Doktor shuffling through his belongings on the ground, trying to arrange the leaves that had fallen when Lois had accidentally knocked it over. He was mumbling something, but Buck couldn't hear. He turned to Lois, who was now complete with her aviator hat and goggles, fully grown.

She smiled, "He's saying something about you being an idiot for parenting me poorly."

"What?! I'm the greatest parent," he said, "Don't parents let their kids jump off a waterfall and follow after?"

Lois gave him a look, "No, it's quite the opposite dad."

Buck pouted, "Well those parents have no imagination."

"AND YOU WON'T _BE_ ALIVE AFTER I KICK YOU _DOWN_A WATERFALL!!" Unfortunately Doktor was there in front of them, raising his cane. The two yelped in surprise and scattered out of the bushes.

_Now you're the one I'm looking for,  
__You're the one I need,  
__You're the one that gives me, a reason to believe...  
__Following a star, has lead to where you are,  
__It feels so strong now, this can't be wrong now._

In the lagoon, a tree stood out in the center of the water. It was tall, and it was home to many fireflies, some which had taken flight since a weasel and a bat had occupied the area.

Lois followed a cluster of fireflies fly by, and around the tree. She smiled and turned to Buck, "Hey dad,"

"Hmm?" Buck had been resting in a hammock-like swing he made, just above the water.

"Do fireflies live forever?"

He opened his eye and raised an eye brow, "What?"

"Do they?"

"Err... no. Like everyone, they die after a while."

Lois nodded, "Well, I just want you to know that you're a great dad. You know, just in case?" she shrugged.

Buck gave her a look of confusion, "In case what?"

She smiled sadly, "Everyone dies after a while dad."

Buckminster sighed. Here is Lois again, thinking ahead and never thinking in the present. He always thought that she's gone insane as well, but no, her eyes always told him that she spoke the truth. What confused him is that whenever she made a compliment about him being a great dad, she always said 'just in case'. He didn't get it.

"Goodnight," she said, and perched herself on her own hammock between Buck and her mother... err... the pineapple. Buck smiled, "Goodnight, Lois."

He never figured out why she had always said 'just in case', until now...

* * *

_Memories. Buck now knew why Lois had said what she said. She had been planning it all along - that she'd die first before him. He wanted to feel so guilty, but instead, he felt happy. He was happy that he made others happy, made Lois happy._

_Under the stars Buck rested, and ever so slowly, he drew his last breath and fell, into a peaceful, never ending sleep._

_His knife, twinkled under the moonlight._


	18. Live On

**Live On**

Where was he? Everything was white, but he heard familiar noises. He took a step forward, and another, and his vision was slowly coming to a clear view. Again he took another step forward. Where was his cane? Didn't he... no. He felt so strong, so young again. He couldn't wait any longer, and Buck ran into view. He gasped as he found himself on a cliff overlooking the dinosaur world.

_I hear the wind across the plain,  
__A sound so strong, that calls my name,  
__It's wild like the river, it's warm like the sun,  
__Ya it's here, this is where I belong._

It was so beautiful, so new, just like the last time he and the herd had left it when they went to the surface. He recognized a few dinosaurs, and even saw that butterfly he had known since it was a caterpillar.

_Under the starry skies, where eagles have flown,  
__This place is paradise, it's the place I call home,_

Buck grabbed a hanging vine nearby, and started swinging from one forest vine to the next. Beautiful colours zipped past him as he travelled from one portion of the forest to the next. He chuckled as a venus flytrap tried to take him, but he had quickly dodged it.

_The moon on the mountains,  
__The whisper through the trees,  
__The waves on the water,  
__Let nothing come between this and me._

He passed by familiar faces, such as Rascal, partying with his fellow dinosaurs and celebrating. They all cheered up to him, those who had coconut cups toasting him as he swung by.

There was also Pett, and Doktor who had given him his knife and waved goodbye when he made his leave.

The hypsilophodon smiled, watching the weasel disappear into the forest, "It's good to have you back, Buckminster." Pett chirped happily.

_Cuz' everything I want, is everything that's here,  
__And when we're all together, there's nothing to fear,_

Buck emerged from the forest, and landed crouching at the tip of a cliff. He smiled side to side as his family marched up to the cliff beside him. Manny and Ellie stood to his right along with Crash and Eddie. Sid and Diego had emerged after, to his left, and they all smiled together. They were in a place, where you can never grow old, can never die, but what mattered is that they were together.

Buck stood up to look at the distance. Was that the sun? Yes, that was the sun, and flying from out of the Abyss to cover a portion of the burning star was Lois. She spread her wings as she slowed to a stop, and dove forward, landing beside her father.

"Welcome home, dad." she smiled, and he smiled too.

_And wherever I wander, the one thing I've learned...  
__It's to here, I will always..._

In the distance, came a mighty roar only recognized by the dinosaurs in the massive land, and the group of mammals that stood aligned on top of a cliff. Buck smirked, and knife in hand, he said...

_always return._

"It's time to get, _Buckwild_."

'_What we learned as children that one plus one equals two, we know to be false._

_One plus one equals one._

_We even have a word when you plus another equals one..._

_Of course in Manny, Sid, Diego, Ellie, Crash and Eddie, and Peaches' relationship; a family._

_In Buck and Lois' case; a father and daughter._

_So what is that word when you plus another equals one, or a family altogether?_

_That word is,_

_LOVE_.'

**The End**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything 'Ice Age' related other than my OCs, and this story. I do not own any of the songs I have also used in this fanfiction, and the quote is from the TV show 'Life' on at channel NBC; I just added to it.

**Note:** I'm sorry this chapter is short, but that's how I planned it to be, a short ending. But I want to point out that the reason for this chapter is that it doesn't matter where you are, or what you are, as long as you're with your family, and that's what matters.

The songs used in this fanfiction are,

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by *NSync (Diego and Lois' performing)

"Nothing I've Ever Known" by Bryan Adams (Buck and Lois' meeting)

"This Is Where I Belong" by Bryan Adams (Live On/The End)

Bryan Adams? I loved his songs, and not only did they fit my fanfiction but there was a meaning to them, and emotion to them whenever he sang his songs. Because of that, it lets the people listening to his song feel what he wants them to feet, such as I wanted people to feel the sadness, and happiness of this story when I was writing it.

**Thank you,**

**Varanus Prasinus**, being my first reviewer. I hope you enjoyed this story.

**DXmaryoOD**, even though you only reviewed once it still helped me continue this story, thank you.

**Safe runner**, thank you for pointing out my spelling mistakes although I'm still working on it.

**P.A.W.07**, thank you for reviewing, it helped me continue.

**Jessangel249**, I'm glad you liked Lois, being one of the OCs you said you can't hate. Diego's moods are fun to play with; you have to think like him to write a proper a fanfiction I guess.

**pachysam**! Although I couldn't incorporate most of your ideas to my fanfiction, I'm very thankful that you gave a moment to help me. I have to say, your review about the list of dinosaurs I should incorporate into the story made me giggle.

**NewEclipse**, I know I said that Buck wouldn't die, I'm sorry, but thank you for reviewing. I hope this ending will make you feel better now that I've err... killed Buck.

**heynello**, don't worry, I didn't forget about you! Without you, and the other people that have reviewed, I would've never finished this insane fanfiction. So thank you!

**nakota2mustang**, ugh! How stupid of me to not see that Buck had an Australian accent. I'm so sorry! Although, I'm glad you enjoyed some of the scenes I have written, being the party scene with Diego and Lois and I'm also glad that we could relate to the 'crying' part.

**Amethyst DragonRider**, I'm sorry to have made you suffer from endless cliffhangers! I don't mean to do it, but I just do... it's a tendency.

**haleygirl28**, don't think I forgot about you! One, being one of the many faithful reviewers I had since the story had started and the fact that your concerns about Diego always made me chuckle, he's a cool cat, isn't he?

**Joe**, you were funny. Thank you for the review ;)

**IceAgeLover** thank you for reviewing! I like your icon by the way!

**goldenpuon**, even though you apologize for reviewing so late I don't mind at all. You're one of the many people that helped me continue this story and I thank you for that.

**FABCHICKXO**, hello! Thank for being such a patient victim, it was fun teasing you and the others with cliffhangers--no not really, it was mean. Lol.

**metacognitive**, although you said one time that you were too lazy to log in, you were never lazy to give me such a great review, thank you! You're also one of my victims to the cliffhangers, ugh, sorry, I can't help myself... it just comes!

**Fiat Noctum**, no, no, no, I would never forget you. You were right all along about Diego getting worse, and here we are, at the end. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it; although I've been doubtful at times since I think I have bad grammar.

Last but not least, thank you **Locrian-Mode**! You've given me such wonderful reviews and they mean so much to me. I would always stiffen when you'd give me long reviews, as I thought they were flames, but they never were. Your reviews helped me finish this story, and I wish that I could give long and awesome reviews to your fanfiction, but my grammar is stopping me from doing so. But again, thank you! I'll be keeping an eye out for your next update of **'Rising'** ;)

And **Paige**, you better be reading this... BECAUSE I GOT A LOT OF 'GONCOOKIES TO GIVE YOU!!!! You know who you are, and thanks for your rewiews... on MSN of course. LMAO!


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